2026 Food Systems Innovation Challenge

In the quest to address pressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security, the concept of Nature-based solutions in food systems is emerging. Amongst the growing recognition of the Nature based solutions potential, nations worldwide endeavour to transform their food systems for a future of abundance and equity.

The Food Systems Challenge strives to cultivate youth engagement and entrepreneurship by actively involving young individuals in national efforts concerning socially and environmentally sustainable food systems.

The students in the challenge are provided with connections to influential stakeholders, access to high-level events and (knowledge) support from universities to transform their ideas into reality. Through the challenge, students will not only gain knowledge but also valuable hands-on experiences. The challenge facilitates meaningful connections between students working across interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary fields.

Timeline

When	What
22 January 2026	Online info session
3 March 2026	Registration deadline
24 March 2026	Announcement of the selected teams
March - September 2026	Student teams work on their project
29 September 2026	Grand Finals in Wageningen, The Netherlands
February-October 2027	The winning teams get award money and direct tickets to the Youth Food Lab incubation programme, which is a collaboration between WUR, World Food Forum/FAO and IAAS

When
22 January 2026
What
Online info session
When
3 March 2026
What
Registration deadline
When
24 March 2026
What
Announcement of the selected teams
When
March - September 2026
What
Student teams work on their project
When
29 September 2026
What
Grand Finals in Wageningen, The Netherlands
When
February-October 2027
What
The winning teams get award money and direct tickets to the Youth Food Lab incubation programme, which is a collaboration between WUR, World Food Forum/FAO and IAAS

Registration

Student teams of the participating universities can register between 22 January and 3 March 2026, 9.00 am CET by filling in a registration form and by submitting a Concept Note. The form and the format for the Concept Note will be published on this page on 22 January 2026. Other submissions will not be considered.

Partners

WUR (Wageningen University & Research) and NFP (Netherlands Food Partnership) jointly organise this challenge with a strong focus on building a partnership with universities from the global south and stronger connections to food systems transformation pathways in the different countries. The challenge builds partnerships with universities in the global south to support youth engagement and entrepreneurship in food systems transitions.

The challenge is supported by FFAR (Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research).
The Global Network of Lighthouse Farms is connected to the challenge as Knowledge Partner.

Participating universities

Bangladesh Agricultural University
Brazil, ESALQ-USP
Ethiopia, Wollo University
Ghana, University of Ghana
Indonesia, University of Brawijaya
Kenya, Lukenya University
Nepal, Kathmandu University
Netherlands, Wageningen University & Research
Nigeria, University of Abuja
Suriname, Anton de Kom University
Uganda, Makerere University

Team formation

The teams consist of 4 to 8 students (Bachelor and/or Master)
Recent graduates (of Bachelor or Master) are welcome to join the Challenge, though the graduation should not be earlier than academic year 2024/2025. With a maximum of 1 recent graduate per team. PhD students are considered as recent graduates and can tick the box of recent graduate upon registration
It’s recommended to form a team of students with different disciplinary backgrounds
Students can form mixed teams, meaning they can come from different universities (including universities that are not on the list of participating universities in this challenge)
However, at least 2 of the team members should be from the participating university
At least 2 of the team members should be on site of the project during the challenge period (March-September)
Teams that participated in the 2025 challenge can not participate in the 2026 challenge

The assignment

In this challenge, we ask student teams from the participating universities to work on a food systems innovation on a local level, addressing climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and biodiversity restoration, and thereby improving the quality of life. We challenge them to design a project plan and to implement it during the challenge period from April to September 2026. The projects should be feasible, sustainable, scalable, and have impact.