The concept of The Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED) was conceived as an international effort, spanning across different countries, creating solutions appropriate for local cultures, resources and capabilities.

It first gained formal structure in 2017 in the USA as a fiscally sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) and, then in 2020 under the Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF). ALLFED Institute now has independent 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

While engaging in the initial stages of our work, we identified a need for a separate charitable UK entity. To this end, we registered ALLFED UK as a “Charitable Incorporated Organisation” based in London. It is intended as an independent charity, able to initiate projects in the UK and globally and to work in alliance with other organisations focusing on similar issues. As of January 2023, we are a registered UK Charity (Charity Commission number #1201536).

At an overarching strategic level, continuity of ALLFED’s mission and multi-continent resilience is better achieved by a geographically distributed network rather than a centralised node. Catastrophic events leading to large scale food shortages need global planning and responses, and having two geographically dispersed ALLFED entities benefits both in terms of access to contacts, networks, resources as well as the overall resilience and ability to carry out our shared mission.  

The UK is uniquely placed for coordination of global activity. With its financial role, research expertise, industry and R&D capability, there are unique opportunities to develop partnerships which address resilience, preparedness and response for catastrophic scenarios. 

The London location is expected to significantly facilitate making contracts with UK organisations that we would like to work with. Moreover, London and the UK lead on policy and finance innovation, with leading think tanks, corporations and other actors located in the city.

At the same time, due to the UK’s status as a strongly import-dependent region, it is pertinent to the UK’s food security to actively engage in the efforts and work to improve it further, which results in the environment that is conducive to our work and receptive audience. The scope of work yet to be done in this area has most recently been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although experts have warned for decades that a global pandemic was imminent, yet when COVID-19 struck, the UK’s preparedness was shown to be over-rated, with significant issues across the food supply chain.

Further, with a separate ALLFED UK entity, people and organisations are expected to be able to donate directly to the UK work (and get UK tax relief/claim Gift Aid). We will also be able to employ people more easily in the UK, and provide any appropriate staff insurance and/or benefits (several of our current team members are located in the UK, as per our team pages).

ALLFED UK will have a close relationship with ALLFED Institute, with both maintaining their respective independence. This page is an introduction to ALLFED UK, its objectives and activities, as well as the expected difference between ALLFED’s USA and the UK charities.  

ALLFED UK – ALLFED Institute relationship

The table below provides an at-a-glance overview of key aspects of the relationship between the two ALLFED entities.

In addition to two fully independent boards, there is an academic 'advisory board' without any legal role which freely offers expertise and intellectual advice to both USA and UK entities.

There is a framework agreement between the two organisations which sets out both organisations' commitments to maintaining independence of each entity, as well as dealing with the use of Intellectual Property and shared resources.