Putting AI in the hands of 500 million farmers, with Alesha Miller

Hunger and Malnutrition are not the same, with Lawrence Haddad

Dr Lawrence Haddad is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an international organisation working across more than a dozen countries to make nutritious food more available, affordable and desirable.  In today’s episode, we explore the state of global nutrition in 2026. You'll hear Lawrence's reflections on what David Nabarro would be telling the nutrition community right now, the surprising fact that five or six of the top ten risk factors for disease in most countries come down to what we eat and why GAIN is increasingly focused on small and medium businesses as the real engine of local food systems. Resources and links: * GAIN website [https://www.gainhealth.org/] * Dr Lawrence Haddad on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-haddad-cmg-5809b916b/] Connect: * Future Fork podcast website [http://futureforkpodcast.com/] * Paul Newnham on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/] * Paul Newnham on X [https://twitter.com/paulnewnham?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] * Paul Newnham on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/?originalSubdomain=au] * Disruptive Consulting Solutions website [https://www.disruptiveconsultingsolutions.com/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub website [https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X [https://twitter.com/SDG2AdvocacyHub] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sdg2advocacyhub/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdg2-advocacy-hub/?originalSubdomain=uk]

Putting AI in the hands of 500 million farmers, with Alesha Miller

In today's episode, we're talking to Alesha Miller, Chief Strategy Officer at Digital Green — a tech nonprofit putting AI tools directly into the hands of smallholder farmers around the world. We explore how digital technology is reshaping agriculture from the ground up and why the world's 500 million smallholder farmers have been chronically under-served. You'll hear how Digital Green's Farmer Chat app has already answered more than 10 million questions in farmers' own languages, why Alesha believes farmers will end up teaching AI more than AI teaches them, and the reason farmer protests are erupting in countries where data centres are now competing with farms for the same water. Resources and links: * Digital Green website [https://digitalgreen.org/] * Alesha Miller on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alesha-black-miller-03a2aa1a/] * Farmer Chat on Google Play [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.digitalgreen.farmer.chat] Connect: * Future Fork podcast website [http://futureforkpodcast.com/] * Paul Newnham on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/] * Paul Newnham on X [https://twitter.com/paulnewnham?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] * Paul Newnham on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/?originalSubdomain=au] * Disruptive Consulting Solutions website [https://www.disruptiveconsultingsolutions.com/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub website [https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X [https://twitter.com/SDG2AdvocacyHub] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sdg2advocacyhub/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdg2-advocacy-hub/?originalSubdomain=uk]

Hunger in a region of abundance, the truth about Asia-Pacific, with Samir Wanmali

Samir Wanmali is the WFP Regional Director for Asia-Pacific. With over 20 years of experience across food security, emergency operations and programme design, he has led responses in some of the world's most challenging contexts. Since November 2024, he has turned his attention to a region that feeds much of the world, yet where hunger and malnutrition persist in ways that are often overlooked. In this conversation, we explore the contradictions at the heart of the Asia-Pacific food story, a region of extraordinary abundance and economic growth where 69 million people still can't find their next meal, and 1.7 billion can't afford a healthy diet. You'll hear why climate shocks that were once considered once-in-a-century events are now happening every three years, how WFP is shifting from response to anticipatory action and the experience working with displaced communities in South Darfur that taught Samir the difference between giving people food and building something with them. Resources and links: * WFP website [https://www.wfp.org/support-us/stories/donate?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=11625191910&utm_content=110051130461&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11625191910&gbraid=0AAAAACOf4HpNwiXcxeMZQfrcd6nkXAVtP&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPLOBhCiARIsAKRMPZoUZZlsF60AzaNQpJ74t-_QQq9pphvxBhyK-0nQ9HalrxwUmEpGETcaAgwGEALw_wcB] Connect: * Future Fork podcast website [http://futureforkpodcast.com/] * Paul Newnham on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/] * Paul Newnham on X [https://twitter.com/paulnewnham?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] * Paul Newnham on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/?originalSubdomain=au] * Disruptive Consulting Solutions website [https://www.disruptiveconsultingsolutions.com/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub website [https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X [https://twitter.com/SDG2AdvocacyHub] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sdg2advocacyhub/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdg2-advocacy-hub/?originalSubdomain=uk]

Why global development financing is broken, and how to fix it, with Jamie Drummond

Jamie Drummond is the co-founder of ONE.org and the founder of Sharing Strategies — an organisation that brings together philanthropies, think tanks, campaign groups and international organisations to share collective intelligence on climate and development. In this conversation, we explore why the money needed to solve the world's biggest problems already exists, and why it isn't getting to the right places. You'll hear the story of how a documentary in northern Ethiopia sparked the Drop the Debt campaign, Jamie's case for why credit rating agencies are one of the most important and overlooked levers in global development finance, and the mountain of buttered potatoes on an Irish farm table that is his most enduring food memory. Resources and links: * Jamie Drummond on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiedrummond/?originalSubdomain=uk] * Sharing Strategies website [https://www.sharingstrategies.org/] * ONE.org website [http://one.org] Connect: * Future Fork podcast website [http://futureforkpodcast.com/] * Paul Newnham on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/] * Paul Newnham on X [https://twitter.com/paulnewnham?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] * Paul Newnham on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/?originalSubdomain=au] * Disruptive Consulting Solutions website [https://www.disruptiveconsultingsolutions.com/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub website [https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X [https://twitter.com/SDG2AdvocacyHub] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sdg2advocacyhub/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdg2-advocacy-hub/?originalSubdomain=uk]

From global food activism to the streets of Belfast, with Sophie Healy-Thow

Sophie Healy-Thow is an Irish food systems and nutrition advocate. She is the founder of Act4Food Act4Change, a global youth-led campaign. And currently serves as Food Systems Coordinator for Belfast City Council. She also sits on the Advisory Board of EAT and is a Lead Group Member of the UN's Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. We explore what meaningful youth engagement in food systems actually looks like, and why it so often falls short.  You'll hear about the school science project that first launched her into food systems advocacy, why she believes cities are the next frontier of food systems transformation, and Sophie shares her candid thoughts on whether the UN is still relevant in the current global climate. Resources and links: * Sophie Healy-Thow on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sophiehealythow/] * Sophie Healy-Thow on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-healy-thow-6a5399115/] * Act4Food Act4Change website [https://actions4food.org/en/] Connect: * Future Fork podcast website [http://futureforkpodcast.com/] * Paul Newnham on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/] * Paul Newnham on X [https://twitter.com/paulnewnham?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] * Paul Newnham on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/?originalSubdomain=au] * Disruptive Consulting Solutions website [https://www.disruptiveconsultingsolutions.com/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub website [https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X [https://twitter.com/SDG2AdvocacyHub] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sdg2advocacyhub/] * SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdg2-advocacy-hub/?originalSubdomain=uk]