WSIS (World Summit Information Society) Prizes 2025: Vote NOW for FAO Food Loss App (FLAPP), FAO's unique transformative tool in the fight against food loss!
The FAO Food Loss App (FLAPP) has just been selected as one of the top 20 projects competing in the 8th edition of the prestigious WSIS Prizes 2025 under Action Line C7. Category 13- ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-agriculture. The FLAPP recognition highlights FAO's innovative approach to reducing food losses through informed decision-making and promoting sustainability in agriculture, assisting farmers and agricultural stakeholders worldwide in an inclusive approach, leaving no one behind.
What are the WSIS Prizes?
Following the outcomes of the United Nations General Assembly Overall Review on WSIS that called for a close alignment between the WSIS Process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the WSIS (World Summit Information Society) Prizes is the unique global platform to identify and showcase success stories in the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs. Having attracted over 300,00 stakeholders since their inception, they create now more than ever an effective mechanism to evaluate projects and activities that leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development. 18 winning projects will be announced together with 72 champion projects at the WSIS Prize 2025 Ceremony at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 to be held in Geneva, the 8 July 2025).
About FLAPP
FLAPP is FAO pioneering digital solution designed to help farmers, companies, producer associations, and cooperatives make informed decisions to reduce food losses. Its primary goal is to inform targeted policies and spur both private and public investments, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, particularly Target 12.3, which aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.
Through video advisories and advanced data visualization, FLAPP measures, identifies, and analyzes the causes of food losses—from pests and diseases to inadequate packaging—across various stages, from harvest to wholesale markets. By leveraging crowd-sourced data from farmers, FLAPP enhances FAO's ability to analyze food losses directly from the farm level.
Currently operational in 36 countries and covering 13 commodities, FLAPP's adaptive content expands with its user base, aiming to cater more precisely to local needs and fill knowledge gaps.
Why Vote for FLAPP?
'' FLAPP promotes sustainability through three key impacts: increasing the availability of high-value products, using natural resources more efficiently, and reducing emissions. These efforts reduce resource waste and environmental impact across the whole agricultural sector, marking a significant step forward in the global effort against food loss, reinforcing our mandate in FAO and showcasing concretely the transformative potential of digital technologies to generate actionable insights that will benefit both our People and our Planet’’ explains Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist.
By voting for FLAPP, you are supporting a project that aligns with WSIS values of inclusivity, sustainability, and the ethical use of ICTs to improve the quality of life for people around the world. FLAPP is indeed accessible to a wide range of stakeholders, including farmers, companies, producer associations, cooperatives, researchers, and survey takers, encouraging collaboration and partnerships that are essential for achieving the SDGs. It promotes free access to information, inclusivity, and no discrimination, fostering inclusive participation in the information society.
‘By promoting food loss reduction at its largest, the FLAPP provides unique capabilities to enable targeted interventions towards addressing this significant gap area within agri-food systems. It concretely demonstrates how digital enables and accelerates solutions for addressing key challenges, with direct and immediate impact. '' says Dejan Jakovljevic, FAO Director of Digital FAO and Agro-informatics Division. ''FLAPP also brings improvements to food security and nutrition, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering pressure on water and land resources, which contribute towards increased productivity and economic growth', he adds.
How to Vote
Visit the WSIS Prizes voting page and cast your vote for FLAPP before the 30th April 2025. If you are not a member of the WSIS Stocktaking Platform, register yourself here as a new user to be able to access the voting form. The voting process will determine the top five projects in each category with the highest number of votes, while considering the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the nominated projects. Your vote will help FAO continue its mission to fight hunger and poverty by reducing food losses and promoting sustainable agriculture worldwide.
Knowledge for Action: Your Call for All
FAO’s innovative use of digital tools like FLAPP in empowering farmers to transform agrifood systems and helping Members achieve the SDGs and FAO Four Betters, highlights once again the Organization's key contributions to leveraging ICTs for societal challenges and inclusive sustainable development. Leveraging methodology and data for impact to best serve UN's global mission and vision, the FLAPP aims at ensuring sustainability together, for the future of Agriculture, leaving no one behind.
Find the project details on WSIS Prizes page here.
For more information about FLAPP, visit the FLAPP website here, and its FAQs here
Check the app here.
Watch FLAPP trailer here and the experts’ interviews here.
Cast your vote before 30 April 2025 here