This is the fifth in a six-part series by our CEO, Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, about how the Novo Nordisk Foundation is changing. Read Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, Part Four here, and look out for Part Six soon.
When I was a boy, I often asked my parents to give me maths problems to solve while we walked our dog in the forest. I would work away at them in my head, trying to get to the answer.
Looking back, it wasn’t the maths itself that mattered. I simply felt a need to understand how things fit together and why the world works the way it does.
That instinct has stayed with me. And, in many ways, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is on several similar curiosity-driven journeys today.
One of them relates to agri-food systems, a way of describing the connected web that determines how food moves from soil to table. It’s a relatively new area for the Foundation, but, with our mission to improve human and planetary health and our strong roots in research and innovation, it’s one where we have a role to play.
Asking new questions
A generation or two ago, food systems around the world had one main purpose – to produce enough calories to feed a rapidly growing population. But these systems also contributed to biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, climate change, pollution, and the rise of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Now the system is close to breaking under the pressures of climate, conflict, and changing demands.
The questions we need to address today are therefore very different from the ones of the past.
Instead of ‘How do we produce more food?’ we must ask: How can we produce enough nutritious food while reducing land use and environmental damage? How do we develop crops that are resilient to the climate shocks of today and tomorrow? How do we ensure the foods we produce support long-term health, not undermine it?
Where science starts to offer the answers
Finding and implementing answers will help solve a myriad of global problems. But changing how the world grows, distributes, and consumes food is a challenge of staggering complexity, requiring coordinated action across disciplines and regions.
However, our knowledge and understanding of nature and its ecosystems may have evolved to a level where we for the first time can find and scale the solutions that we need.
Here at the Foundation, figuring out our role requires humility and an appetite to learn from experts and partners who have the additional insights and experiences that we lack. It also requires us to play to our strengths – supporting research and innovation and building the right partnerships.
A concrete example is the Ancient Environmental Genomics Initiative for Sustainability (AEGIS) project, led by evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev. He and his team are studying ancient DNA to discover how plants adapted to climate shifts thousands of years ago, with the aim of using those insights to develop new climate-resilient crops.
I was sceptical at first. But it soon became clear to me that AEGIS epitomises the type of curiosity and out-of-the-box thinking that the world needs. And it’s just one part of an ecosystem of efforts we’re developing here at the Foundation.
We’re supporting new innovations in plant-based foods, microbial foods, and fermentation; explorative work to use carbon sources as a raw material for nutritious food; the development of new wheat varieties that significantly reduce the need for nitrogen fertilisation; school meals programmes that strengthen local agriculture and improve children’s nutrition – and much more.
Local to global
Much of the innovation we support is rooted in Denmark or the wider European region. This makes good sense – the region has a long, rich agricultural heritage and deep scientific expertise in crop science, microbiology, and biotechnology.
But we’re very aware that context is all. A resilient wheat variety that thrives in Northern Europe may be useless in Kenya or Bangladesh. A precision fermentation technology developed in Denmark will only matter if it can scale affordably in markets where it’s needed most.
That’s why we’re also learning from and working alongside experts in East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and elsewhere – ensuring that communities around the world can benefit from new knowledge and solutions.
Because while contexts vary, the ambition is shared – transforming agri-food systems from a source of strain on people and planet to a foundation for health and sustainability.
Curiosity and collaboration
When I reflect on what lies ahead, I’m reminded of those childhood walks – of how a simple question could challenge what I thought I knew and push me to think in new ways.
Today, as we face a global food systems crisis, curiosity is more important than ever. It pushes us to test assumptions, invite in new perspectives, and work with partners who expand our understanding.
Together, we can help improve food security, strengthen biodiversity, tackle climate change, create new green jobs, and deliver healthier diets that reduce the long-term risk of many chronic diseases. It’s a journey we’re already on, along with others – and one we’re excited to continue.
Image: WFP/Lisa Murray
