Opinion: Why grassroots innovation must survive aid cuts

As the world confronts a cascade of intersecting crises — from escalating geopolitical tensions to climate shocks and widening inequalities — the need for bold innovation has never been more urgent. Yet, just as grassroots ingenuity begins to unlock transformative solutions to these global challenges, sweeping cuts to development assistance threaten to dismantle the very ecosystems that nurture such breakthroughs. Our global community has a responsibility to ensure that this tap is not turned off just as a new wave of local, life-changing solutions begins to flow. When we think of innovation, minds often turn to Silicon Valley’s gleaming campuses and boardrooms, cutting-edge apps, and billion-dollar startups. But across the globe, grassroots innovators are quietly revolutionizing their communities, responding to challenges with groundbreaking solutions. They are turning plastic waste into low-cost housing materials or exploring the genetic makeup of mushrooms to boost food security, and much more. In a world of 8 billion people, the next Steve Jobs could just as easily emerge from a vibrant city market or a classroom in Kenya, Brazil, or the Philippines as from Silicon Valley. But these innovators need more than just a great idea — they need the time, space, and resources to experiment, fail, and ultimately succeed. That’s precisely the vision behind the Accelerator Labs Network. Launched in 2019 by the United Nations Development Programme, the network has expanded to 113 countries to harness the often-overlooked, untapped knowledge and ingenuity of communities and unveil local innovations for new solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Take South Sudan, where women in the bustling border town of Warawar are reshaping their economic destinies. Without access to formal banks, many relied on traditional, informal lending circles known as “sanduks.” The Accelerator Lab experimented with the migration of sanduks to digital platforms, thus creating mobile wallets for saving, lending, and money transfers among people in remote areas. The result? Interest rates dropped by nearly 50%. Bakhita Ghedai, a tea kiosk and hotel owner, expanded her business from 14 to 22 rooms in a matter of months. “Transformative ideas often emerge from the world’s toughest environments.” --— Or consider India, where agriculture faces major threats from climate change. Rising temperatures and erratic weather endanger crops and livelihoods. To address this, the Accelerator Lab in India collaborated with 100 data scientists and local innovators to create the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture platform. This tool, now a digital public good, is powered by artificial intelligence and blends grassroots practices with advanced analytics. Its open-source data empowers farmers with ways to protect crops in a changing climate while also bringing actionable insights to inform public investments in agriculture. These stories aren’t outliers but signals of what’s possible when innovation ecosystems are nurtured, not stifled. Across the globe, the Accelerator Labs have catalogued more than 6,500 grassroots solutions. In partnership with the Universities of Utrecht and Johannesburg, they also uncovered over 1 million community innovators in South Africa alone — a testament to the world’s untapped potential. Notably, high-income countries are also increasingly looking to the global south for new answers. For instance, climate-resilient seeds, once a local innovation, are now sought after by high-income nations. This reversal of the traditional north-to-south development model underscores the value of investing in local ingenuity. The Accelerator Labs have emerged as a new Research and Development model within UNDP to accelerate learning for what works across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Transformative ideas often emerge from the world’s toughest environments. While government policy is essential, it’s often the entrepreneur, the grassroots inventor, or the community itself that creates the first crack in the system — the lightbulb moment that sparks lasting change. The “angel investments” by Qatar and Germany in the UNDP Accelerator Labs set a precedent: Showing how uniting governments, venture capitalists, and the global community can unlock hidden reserves of grassroots R&D. Yet without sustained investment, we risk silencing these critical voices. This isn’t just a financial failure; it’s a failure of imagination. Thriving innovation ecosystems demand bold, strategic support. This includes aid resources that encourage experimentation to de-risk investments. It also encompasses hybrid financing models that leverage public and private funding to sustain long-term efforts. Our global community can now retrench into a narrow, risk-averse mindset or invest in grassroots innovation — a strategic and overlooked tool in a world where challenges such as climate change and pandemics defy borders. If we fail to support these ecosystems, we’re not just losing solutions. We risk endangering a vital source of the world’s imagination and ingenuity — drowning embers just as a fire is starting to blaze — right when we need its warmth and light the most. By embracing unconventional innovators, we dramatically increase the chances of discovering breakthroughs in renewable energy, our natural world, health care, and beyond. Now is the moment to empower grassroots innovators with the tools, resources, and recognition they need to turn their sparks into flames of lasting change.