Feeding the Future: AMPLE’s Role in Food Security, Nature, and Entrepreneurial Growth
Food Security and SDG 2: Zero Hunger
The World Summit defines food security as the right of every person worldwide to have economic, physical, and social access to an adequate amount of nutritious and healthy food. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to eat properly each day; this is known as food insecurity, where there is a shortage of sufficient and wholesome food. This phenomenon is most acute among vulnerable communities who face socioeconomic barriers such as lack of employment, resources, and education, among other challenges.
At EIT Food, we aim to bridge this gap through training and support via AMPLE, a social innovation project funded by the Citi Foundation, piloted in Madrid and Poland. This initiative also supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, which strives to end hunger by 2030.
Why in European Cities?
Alongside North America, Europe faces concerning levels of food insecurity in urban areas. One of the ways we contribute is by promoting urban resilience. You can read more about this topic in the article Urban resilience: building sustainable cities through social innovations.
AMPLE: A Solution to Food Insecurity in Madrid
Created in 2023 as part of Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge, AMPLE was one of 50 selected from 1,000 projects across 80 countries, receiving $500,000 in funding.
With a focus on improving circumstances for vulnerable communities to enhance food security, AMPLE has prioritized three pillars: knowledge, community, and business. Both consumers and businesses must play an active role in agrifood transformation. In Madrid, collaboration with NGOs and cooperatives has laid the project’s foundation.
As a result, three courses have been created to promote employability and awareness: Cooking and Food Handling with Entreculturas and Pueblos Unidos; Regenerative Agriculture and Urban Gardens with Germinando, and Agrifood Entrepreneurship with Action Against Hunger.
You arrived at just the right time and place. Healthy eating and zero waste are not only practical skills, but tools for sustainability that empower individuals on a personal level
Feeding the Future: Training in Culinary Skills and Food Handling
The first initiative, launched in collaboration with Entreculturas and Pueblos Unidos, co-created a course on traditional Spanish cooking and food handling.
Naisha Michelle Palma Flores, a 26-year-old participant from Venezuela, remarked that the course was like “a steppingstone for the future.” Finding a job is often challenging, especially for someone in a vulnerable situation with limited resources. This is why providing training in a sector with “high employability,” such as the culinary arts, where food handling skills are essential, is so impactful.
Throughout the course, participants gain not only technical skills but also an understanding of healthy eating and the importance of building a support network. “I’ve met many people, which has allowed me to form a circle and feel supported,” said Anderlly David Mejías Ortiz, a 22-year-old participant from Honduras.
Reconnecting with Nature: Regenerative Agriculture and Urban Gardens
Madrid, as a cosmopolitan city, can make people feel disconnected from nature and seasonal foods. The Regenerative Agriculture and Urban Gardens course held at Finca El Pozo in collaboration with Germinando and Barrios Productores aims to reconnect participants with nature and promote sustainable consumption habits. “It’s a chance to revive processes because we’ve disconnected from the seed,” said participant River Mosquera.
Participants were introduced to the fundamentals of traditional agriculture, using long-standing, healthy techniques. Through several sessions, they learned to create and maintain an urban garden from scratch, encouraging self-sufficiency and healthy eating in a context where accessing local produce can be challenging.
In addition to promoting awareness about seasonal fruit and vegetable consumption, [agriculture and urban gardening] help us shift our consumption habits towards a sustainable food model, building alternatives to the globalized agrifood system we are part of
Development and Entrepreneurial Empowerment
“It’s a vital sector that needs conscientious and trained entrepreneurs,” noted María Herrero, a food consultant and collaborator of the Agrifood Entrepreneurship course, about the agrifood sector.
Entrepreneurship is a dream without borders, but there are socioeconomic barriers, even within the agrifood sector, that hinder an idea from becoming a reality. Through the Agrifood Entrepreneurship course, developed with Action Against Hunger, we support inclusive social entrepreneurship so that anyone with a viable idea can reach the market.
Vulnerable people often bring innovative ideas but lack the tools needed to scale and establish themselves in the sector. The course provides relevant knowledge and connections, supported by experts like Citi volunteers and María Herrero, a consultant in the agrifood sector. Sessions cover topics such as finance, regulations, business planning, and marketing, among other areas.
The course aims to empower entrepreneurs to “tie up the loose ends” of their businesses, helping them to see their projects through to completion.
“[The course] makes the difference between having an idea and actually doing something.”
AMPLE: A Future of Opportunities
This programme’s core purpose is not only to achieve universal food security but also to empower vulnerable people to take meaningful steps toward transforming their lives.
All of this has been made possible thanks to the accessible, free support provided by initiatives like AMPLE, supported by the Citi Foundation, and the tireless work of organizations such as Action Against Hunger, Entreculturas, and Germinando.
Through joint efforts, AMPLE is paving the way for a future where everyone can access a dignified and healthy life.
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