The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has opened the call for nominations for the 2026 FAO Award for Innovation, which recognizes ground-breaking innovations in areas related to its mandate. The award celebrates new ideas that are improving the way food is produced, processed, traded and consumed, while helping to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.
According to FAO, the award is open to Members or non-state partners, including institutions, individuals, international or regional organizations, academic and research entities, civil society groups, private sector entities and FAO employees.
FAO stated that eligible nominations should demonstrate contributions that have made an impact on more than one level of the supply chain, from farmers to consumers. It also encourages innovations that strengthen the link between producers and consumers, such as through sustainability tracking on food labels or new institutional mechanisms.
The general selection criteria include the quality and merit of the innovation, its potential benefit and sustainability, scalability, value for money, and the role of youth, women or marginalized groups.
FAO explained that proposals for nominations should be presented by national, regional or global institutions and submitted to FAO Representatives in countries with an accredited office, or to Regional and Subregional Representatives where there is none. These will then be forwarded to the Awards Secretariat for review.
“The Award is conferred for activities and programmes with remarkable achievements during the biennium preceding the current one,” FAO stated. The award will be presented by the Director-General during a special ceremony at the 181st session of the FAO Council, scheduled for 30 November to 6 December 2026.
The timeline shows that the call for nominations runs from December 2025 to February 2026, with screening in March and April, selection in May, and the ceremony in December 2026.
