Key Takeaways
- T57 was founded to address market access, technology access, and financing gaps in global food systems.
- Food insecurity persists despite surplus production due to fragmentation and inefficiencies, and political instability.
- T57 operates as an AI-native, food-focused B2B, B2G, and G2G platform rather than a generalist marketplace.
- AI is positioned as a practical decision-support tool tailored to users’ capabilities and regions.
- By 2035, T57 aims to reduce pre-consumer food waste by rewiring the journey of food and improving the predictability in food trade.
Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb’s Path From Economic Development to Food Systems Execution
Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb’s professional background is rooted in economic and social development rather than agriculture technology alone. Over more than a decade, he worked on initiatives across the Middle East that supported SME creation and employment, experiences that shaped his emphasis on execution and measurable outcomes.
That perspective became particularly relevant during his work with the Islamic Organization of Food Security (IOFS), which represents 57 member states. While contributing to a revised food security strategy later adopted in 2023, Nakheeb identified a recurring limitation: most initiatives focused on policy alignment rather than operational delivery.
“I was looking for impact—creating jobs, SMEs, and reducing hunger,” he said. “What I saw instead was strategy without execution.”
This gap ultimately led to the creation of T57 as an AI-native platform designed to operate directly across the food value chain.
Why Food Insecurity Persists Despite Global Surplus
Global food production exceeds demand, yet hunger remains widespread. According to Nakheeb, this contradiction reflects inefficiencies and political instability rather than a lack of agricultural capacity.
“We produce roughly 10 billion tons of food globally while demand is closer to 8 billion tons,” he explained. “Still, more than 700 million people go to bed hungry.”
A key contributor is fragmentation. Agriculture, logistics, finance, and trade frequently operate in silos, limiting coordination and transparency. As a result, an estimated 33% of food is lost or wasted before reaching consumers.
Nakheeb also challenges the assumption that infrastructure is the main constraint in developing markets. He points instead to market structures that favor large incumbents who account for just 16% of farmers worldwide, while limiting access for small farmers, who account for 84%, and manufacturers.
Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb on Market Access as the Core Constraint
Market access sits at the center of T57’s operating thesis. Rather than building another general-purpose B2B marketplace, the platform focuses exclusively on food, covering fresh, processed, packaged, and branded products.
“Food is perishable, regulated, and deeply local,” Nakheeb said. “It requires a dedicated system.”
T57 enables direct B2B transactions between farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and institutional buyers. By reducing dependency on intermediaries, the platform aims to improve price transparency and margins while maintaining compliance and traceability.
According to Nakheeb, this approach is not intended to disrupt markets, but to broaden participation. “When producers can access buyers directly, the economics of farming and food manufacturing begin to change,” he noted.
Applying AI Where It Delivers Measurable Value
Artificial intelligence plays a central role in T57’s architecture, but Nakheeb is cautious about how the technology is applied. He argues that many AI tools fail in agriculture because they are not aligned with real-world conditions.
“AI should simplify decisions, not add complexity,” he said.
T57’s models are trained on agricultural research, satellite imagery, weather data, and trade flows, then localized based on region and user profile. Farmers can upload crop images for diagnostics, receive tailored guidance, or connect with remote experts. Traders and buyers use predictive tools to assess spoilage risk, timing, and demand trends.
“Nobody wants to waste food,” Nakheeb said. “Losses happen because people don’t have the right information at the right time.”
Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb’s Perspective on Trade Finance and Risk
Access to finance remains one of the most persistent bottlenecks in agriculture. Traditional lending models rely heavily on land collateral and documentation-heavy processes that move slowly relative to food trade cycles.
“In many cases, the food arrives at ports or its destination before the paperwork,” Nakheeb observed.
T57 works with banks and financial institutions to leverage digital technologies that improve transaction visibility, allowing lenders to assess counterparties, margins, logistics, and risk exposure more effectively. This supports staged financing, alternative collateral structures, and faster credit decisions. It also ensures documentation across the supply chain moves faster.
Nakheeb emphasized that transparency does not eliminate risk, but it enables better risk management.
A View Toward 2035
Looking ahead, Nakheeb envisions T57 as an integrated platform embedded across food ecosystems. By 2035, he expects closer collaboration between governments, financial institutions, research bodies, and private companies.
“Our focus is reducing food waste before it reaches consumers,” he said. “If we can cut that significantly, the impact on food security is immediate.”
He also anticipates a future where farmers can assess demand, pricing, and financing before planting, and where food trade transactions take minutes rather than weeks.
“This is not an agriculture problem alone,” Nakheeb concluded. “It’s a coordination problem—and coordination is possible when all the players in the food chain are on a single, integrated platform.
Connect with Afzal Hussain Mohammed Nakheeb on LinkedIn
