Global food systems in emerging economies were once geared largely towards tourist populations and exports. But, as food security, nutrition concerns, and agricultural sustainability continue to be primary drivers for opportunity in these economies, the focus has shifted; a better understanding of the fundamental dynamics in these countries is therefore needed to solve core problems.
In Food Systems Live!, learners will gather each week with fellow entrepreneurs, both to learn from Harvard faculty and global leaders in the fields of food, agriculture, and nutrition, and to identify opportunities to build scalable solutions for food safety, security, and nutrition in emerging economies. By engaging with peers and experts in real time, learners will be prepared to answer “what’s next?” for the global food and agricultural industry. Specific topics to be covered include supply chain innovations, e-commerce retail platforms, and novel operating models for agriculture.
Each week, learners will engage with asynchronous course content and readings, culminating in a dynamic live webinar discussion. In addition, each learner has the option to participate in a capstone learning experience: developing a business plan week by week. At the end of the course, these plans will be reviewed and critiqued by a panel of highly-qualified experts and business professionals from emerging economies. Judges will vote on the business plans, and those with the newest, most innovative ideas will receive a prize awarded by the Sight and Life Foundation –helping bring their project to life!
The asynchronous course content draws upon existing case studies from Harvard’s Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies course, covering diverse sectors such as health care, commerce and eCommerce, fintech, and infrastructure. The content will focus on specific emerging economies across large geographic regions, such as India and South Asia, China, Africa, and Latin America. Learners will examine real-world case studies, understanding prior attempts to address challenges across emerging markets, identifying points of opportunity for smart entrepreneurial efforts, and proposing and developing their own creative solutions. The course also touches on issues related to financing, scaling operations, branding, management of property rights, and how to appropriately assess progress and social value–all in the context of the fast-growing but institutionally compromised settings of emerging markets.
Food Systems Live!: Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies enables participants to identify innovative, entrepreneurial approaches through online lectures, peer-to-peer learning, and live interactions with global leaders in food systems.
