Why climate startups need local innovation ecosystems
2025 continues to break records for extreme weather events, underscoring the urgent need for climate adaptation strategies that are both innovative and inclusive. For the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN’s key food agency, this means not only delivering food where it’s needed most but also adapting its operations to meet growing humanitarian needs with shrinking resources.
One way WFP is doing this is through the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA), which supports startups developing climate solutions in vulnerable regions. In its first cohort focused on Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, AFCIA brought together ten ventures with WFP climate experts and country offices for a bootcamp at the WFP Innovation Accelerator in Munich. Nine of these ventures have now been in the programme’s ‘accelerate phase’ implementing their solutions locally in partnership with WFP country offices.
A key feature of this phase are the ‘ecosystem events’, strategic gatherings designed to connect startups with local stakeholders, foster collaboration, share resources and knowledge and eventually catalyse long-term impact.