Pathway 1: Diversified crops and feed systems Food and feed systems remain heavily dependent on a small number of globally traded crops. Maize, wheat, rice and soy dominate calorie supply and underpin much of the feed used in livestock, poultry and aquaculture production. This concentration creates systemic exposure: when climate or market shocks disrupt one of these commodities, costs transmit quickly through value chains. Feed alone represents 50-70% of operating costs in animal production, so volatility in soy or maize prices affects both producer margins and consumer affordability. Producers (especially smallholders and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)) struggle with volatile input prices, inconsistent quality and poor local supply chains. Challenges such as reduced margins and constrained productivity act as bottlenecks to sector growth, making feed one of the most direct levers to stabilize and expand protein availability. The Southern Africa Poultry Initiative (SAPI) is advancing feed diversification by integrating locally adapted cereals, pulses and alternative proteins such as black soldier fly into poultry value chains, demonstrating how substitution can stabilize costs and diversify markets. Diversifying crops and feedstocks offers a pathway to broaden sourcing and strengthen resilience. Climate-tolerant cereals such as millets, sorghum and pulses, and salt-tolerant crops like halophytes can be integrated into feed rations, reducing reliance on imports while creating new markets for farmers.4 Novel proteins derived from insects, algae or microbial processes can further replace portions of fishmeal and soymeal in poultry and aquaculture diets, helping to stabilize costs and reduce pressure on wild fisheries.5 Localized production of diversified feed inputs creates new revenue streams for farmers, reduces exposure to import volatility and supports more inclusive growth across poultry, livestock and aquaculture. For consumers, more stable feed supply translates into greater affordability of animal- derived foods, which remain an important source of accessible protein in many regions. By valorizing underutilized crops and co-products, diversified feed systems contribute to efficiency and improved climate performance. These strategies highlight the need to balance more stable incomes for producers with lower costs for consumers, ensuring both sides of the value chain benefit. Pathway 2: Biotechnology- enabled ingredients Food systems depend on functional proteins and fats that underpin product performance. Casein, whey, albumin, collagen and structured lipids all play critical roles in emulsification, binding, foaming, texture and nutrition. Yet these are largely tied to conventional livestock and dairy chains, leaving them exposed to climate volatility and market disruptions. Independent analysis has begun to show economic progress in cultivated proteins. In 2025, Aleph Farms commissioned a techno- economic assessment of cultivated beef cuts showing production could be cost- competitive and profitable at price parity with conventional beef.6 This points to the potential for cultivated platforms to supply functional proteins and fats as viable inputs alongside conventional agriculture, when the right production processes and product strategy are implemented. Biotechnology provides an option to diversify this set of inputs with more predictable supply while also reducing resource intensity. Precision fermentation, biomass fermentation and cultivated platforms can generate proteins, lipids and bioactive molecules with defined functionality for use in various food products. At the ingredient level, these can be added in small amounts to stabilize formulations and improve nutrition. The value of this pathway lies in complementing proteins. By enabling new sources of fermented, cultivated and conventional ingredients, biotechnology can diversify sourcing while preserving the taste, texture and familiarity that consumers consistently prioritize, creating opportunities for balanced protein approaches, where animal-derived and novel proteins work together to reduce environmental impact while maintaining affordability and consumer familiarity. Production remains capital- and energy-intensive, regulatory frameworks differ by jurisdiction, and consumer familiarity with these products is still limited. Even if technical maturity continues to Three pathways of ingredient innovation Ingredient Innovation: Pathways to Resilient Food Systems Food Innovators Network 5

Ingredient Innovation Pathways to Resilient Food Systems 2025