Food waste has become a global issue that affects not only the economy but also the environment. According to the United Nations, one-third of all food produced globally is wasted, while over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger.

This wastage has significant social and economic implications, including loss of resources, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced food security. On the other hand, unemployment is a critical issue worldwide, with millions of people unable to find decent work to support themselves and their families. In 2020, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported that more than 190 million people worldwide were unemployed, with young people and women disproportionately affected.

The pressing challenges of food waste and unemployment call for innovative solutions that create positive social and environmental impact. Social entrepreneurship, coupled with open innovation, provides a unique opportunity to address these issues. In this article, we explore how these concepts can be leveraged to create sustainable solutions that reduce waste and create job opportunities for individuals and communities.

Understanding social entrepreneurship and open innovation

Social entrepreneurship focuses on solving social and environmental problems while maintaining financial sustainability, creating scalable and sustainable solutions. Open innovation is a collaborative approach to problem-solving that leverages diverse stakeholders’ collective intelligence and resources to develop novel solutions to complex challenges. The most significant advantage of open innovation is that it enables society to tap into a broader pool of knowledge, expertise, and resources to solve complex problems.

Prize competitions are a specific type of open innovation where a prize or reward is offered to individuals or teams who successfully solve a specific problem or achieve a particular goal. In the context of open innovation, an incentive prize competition is designed to attract a broad range of innovators, including individuals, startups, and established companies, to collaborate and develop new and creative solutions to a specific challenge.

In addition to the potential to create innovative solutions, prize competitions also provide an opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing. By engaging a diverse group of stakeholders, including established organisations, entrepreneurs, academics, policymakers, and community leaders, prize competitions can foster a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing. This collaboration can lead to the development of solutions that are not only innovative but also consider the unique needs and perspectives of different communities.

One challenge that social entrepreneurs face is access to funding and resources. Prize competitions provide a valuable opportunity for social entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas and secure the funding needed to bring their solutions to market. Winning a prize competition not only provides financial support but also raises the profile of the entrepreneur and their solution, attracting further investment and support.

Prize competitions can also create healthy competition, driving social entrepreneurs to develop more innovative and impactful solutions. By competing for a prize, social entrepreneurs are motivated to think outside the box and come up with new and creative ideas that have the potential to make a real difference in the world.

Addressing food waste through social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs can address food waste through various business models, for example:

Developing food waste reduction technologies: Collaborating with research institutions, technology developers, and other stakeholders to create technologies that minimise food waste throughout the food supply chain.

Creating value-added products from surplus food: Partner with producers, processors, and retailers to transform surplus food into value-added products, reducing waste and generating revenue.

Establishing food redistribution networks: Build networks of food donors, recipients, and logistics partners to redistribute surplus food to those in need, reducing food waste and addressing food insecurity.

Raising consumer awareness:
Collaborate with educational institutions, media, and other stakeholders to promote awareness about food waste and encourage responsible consumer behaviour.

Supporting policy changes: Social entrepreneurs can support policy changes that encourage sustainable food practices and reduce food waste. They can collaborate with policymakers to develop regulations that promote food waste reduction and incentivise sustainable practices.

Creating employment opportunities

Using social entrepreneurship to address food waste creates new businesses, which require new employees. As the business grows and expands, more job opportunities are created. By starting new ventures, social entrepreneurs often introduce new products, services, and processes, which can lead to increased productivity and competitiveness. This, in turn, can create more job opportunities in the business as it expands. As a business grows, it often requires input from other businesses. This creates a supply chain, leading to job creation in other businesses that supply the growing enterprise.

Overall, social entrepreneurship can provide an effective way to address both food waste and unemployment. By creating new business models and developing innovative solutions, social entrepreneurs can create sustainable businesses that reduce waste, create jobs, and have a positive impact on local communities and the environment.

The Capricorn Foundation launched phase two of the Capricorn Foundation Food Waste Challenge (FWC) on 12 April 2023, following the conclusion of a very successful Challenge run in 2022. The FWC seeks solutions that can create or expand self-sufficient social enterprises (businesses) to address the issue of food waste in Namibia whilst creating employment for Namibians. The title of the 2023 Challenge is: How can we use Social Entrepreneurship to reduce Food Waste radically while creating employment opportunities? Interested parties can register using this link: https://capricornfoodwastechallenge.skild.com/ . Directions on how to register can be viewed at (1) The Capricorn Foundation Food Waste Challenge (Phase 2) - YouTube.

*Rikus Grobler is the Capricorn Group innovation manager