China’s Pinduoduo wins 2022 FAO Innovation Award

Rome – Pinduoduo, China’s largest agricultural e-commerce marketplace, has won the 2022 FAO Innovation Award for developing a unique platform to connect smallholders with the market while improving lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers. The award ceremony took place at FAO Headquarters in Rome today on the sidelines of the 171st Session of the FAO Council.

Having started as an online fruit seller, Pinduoduo soon became the leading direct-to-consumer agriculture platform in the country and is used now by more than 16 million farmers to sell their produce to 880 million consumers who shop on the platform. In this way, smallholder farmers are able to increase their incomes and invest in their farms to make them more productive and environmentally sustainable. The consumers benefit because they are able to access a wider selection of agricultural products directly from the people who grow them, and get better value for their money.

“Innovation has always been a key component of the new FAO’s vision,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in his opening remarks at the ceremony. “We need science and innovation to deliver on our common goals of transforming our agrifood systems to nourish people, nurture the planet, advance equitable livelihoods and build resilient ecosystems.”

The Director-General congratulated the winner and lauded it for its ability to bring about a change in rural people’s lives with the help of innovative tools, knowledge and increased capacity. He highly appreciated the opportunities offered by the platform to successfully engage young people, and bring together scientists, innovators, private sector and research institutes to develop tailor-made practical solutions for addressing the challenges faced by smallholder farmers. Qu highlighted that that Pinduoduo’s technological innovations on management of farming systems and emissions reduction were making significant contributions to sustainable agricultural development worldwide, and to global food security.

“This Innovation Award is an affirmation of technology as a force multiplier that can break barriers, connect people, and unleash the creative energies of a sector that is as old as civilization itself,” said Xin Yi Lim, Executive Director for Sustainability and Agricultural Impact at Pinduoduo while accepting the prize. “On behalf of Pinduoduo, I would like to thank the FAO and all our partners, farmers, researchers and consumers who have placed their trust in us on this journey. This award is for all of you,” she concluded.

This year FAO launched the newly structured FAO Awards to recognize progress in the transformation of agrifood systems and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The FAO Award for Innovation, the last one in the series this year, recognizes ground-breaking innovations in areas under FAO’s mandate to Members or non-state partners, including institutions, individuals, international or regional organizations, academic or research entities, civil society groups, private sector entities and FAO employees.