Global center for food innovation comes to the Netherlands

The Netherlands is going to be the center for global food innovation with the Global Coordinating Secretariat (GCS) in Wageningen. Prime Minister Rutte announced this during a digital meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The GCS is part of the WEF's food system initiative to drive innovations and new technologies in the food chain that contribute to global food security. From the Netherlands, the GCS directs the further development of global regional food innovation hubs including the European hub in Food Valley Wageningen.

Minister Schouten of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality: "The Dutch agrifood, horticulture and plant breeding sectors are world players when it comes to knowledge and techniques for the sustainable production and processing of food. That knowledge and innovation is already going global, think of Simon Groot's company East-West Seed that provides millions of small farmers with good seeds.  With FoodValley as the European Food Hub in the WEF and the Global Coordinating Secretariat in the Netherlands, we can share that knowledge and expertise with the world a lot more."

Food Innovation Hubs

Changing the way we produce and consume food requires globally scalable innovations that fit regional conditions. Regional Food hubs play a crucial role in this by bringing together farmers, businesses, scientists and (other) parties in the food chain to develop innovations and business and revenue models that contribute to a sustainable and future-proof food system. Hubs have been set up in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. FoodValley has been appointed as the European Food Hub at the global tables since November.

Global Coordinating Secretariat

The government and development company Oost NL (commissioned by the province of Gelderland and province of Overijssel) support the GCS financially and by forming a small core team. The GCS will help the regional hubs with scaling up, drive new regional hubs and work on global partnerships for innovation. In this way, together they will ensure that knowledge and innovation for a healthy and sustainable food system will be better distributed around the world.

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