SHANGHAI, Dec. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pinduoduo, one of the largest agricultural e-commerce platforms, was named the sole recipient of the 2022 Innovation Award from the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
The annual award recognizes innovation that changes how food is produced, processed, traded, and consumed, and best practices that build more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems. The winner must strengthen the link between farmers and consumers and demonstrate impact on more than one level of the supply chain.
Pinduoduo operates one of the largest agricultural e-commerce platforms in the world. It is used by more than 16 million farmers to sell their products to the almost 900 million consumers who shop on the platform.
According to the FAO award citation:
“Pinduoduo is helping bridge the gap between academic research and the real-world application of agricultural technology. The innovative and inclusive solutions it offers allow smallholder farmers to increase their incomes and invest in more productive and environmentally sustainable practices.”
Pinduoduo sees increasing digitalization as the key to unlocking the full value of agriculture, which lags behind other industries in terms of participation in the digital economy.
To deepen digital inclusion in agriculture, the company has focused on creating opportunities for young people to take part in agriculture. This includes training and encouraging New Farmers to set up their own online businesses, and providing a launchpad for young researchers through its Smart Agriculture Competition to develop agritech solutions to help smallholder farmers.
To date, more than 126,000 New Farmers born after 1995 have set up businesses on Pinduoduo. Participants in the annual Smart Agriculture Competition, in which FAO is involved as a technical advisor, have gone on to implement their agritech solutions in major food-production regions.
Accepting the award on behalf of Pinduoduo in Rome, XinYi Lim, Executive Director of Sustainability and Agricultural Impact at Pinduoduo, said the group was honored to receive the innovation award for its Tech for Agri approach to promoting digitalization in agriculture and digital inclusion.
“The FAO’s 2022 Innovation award to Pinduoduo is an important affirmation that a holistic approach to creating opportunities for young people in agriculture and developing more cost-effective agritech solutions for smallholder farmers makes a difference in promoting a more sustainable future for agriculture,” Lim said.
“Innovation is the central driving force to transform agrifood systems and the private sector is an important contributor to innovation and extension in the agrifood sector along the entire value chain,” said Qu Dongyu, the FAO Director-General. “Pinduoduo is playing a leading role in stepping out of the traditional model and provides a platform to connect smallholder farmers with markets, to improve the 4 Betters – Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life for All - in rural areas.”
About Pinduoduo
Pinduoduo was founded in 2015 and started as an online seller of fresh agricultural produce before expanding to a leading social commerce platform serving close to 900 million users.
As a technology platform rooted in agriculture, building an open and inclusive digital ecosystem that benefits all lies at the core of our corporate philosophy and mission. Through the Pinduoduo platform, we have worked with more than 16 million growers and their communities, helping them to take part in and benefit from the fast-growing digital economy.
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