Healthy food for Africa

NIBIO is one of the partners in the new EU H2020 project HealthyFoodAfrica coordinated by LUKE, Finland, which had its kick-off meeting on the 15^th and 16^th of June.  

The main aim of the five year-long project is to increase the resilience of food systems in Africa, and to link food production to nutrition performance, thereby increasing the range and quality of food products for a healthy diet. To achieve this, it engages with farmers, food processors, retailers, civil society organisations (CSOs), policymakers and local experts, and helps them create, and test, innovative technologies, practices and governance arrangements that contribute to a more sustainable, resilient and healthy food system for all.

Holistic approach which builds on existing initiatives and networks

Research Professor and Director of NIBIO’s Centre for International Development, Dr. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, says that the project will apply an adaptive whole systems approach to transforming local food systems – from individual dietary norms to food supply and access, from new sustainable technologies and practices to wider policy frameworks and business models.

«The project is action-oriented, and builds on existing networks and initiatives in Africa, which facilitates a structured process to experimentation and scaling-up of new approaches by local actors in the food system through a Food System Lab structure and methodology,” he says.

HealthyFoodAfrica promotes innovation in supply chain governance, food products and technologies, as well as supporting educational approaches, capacity building and food policy development.

“The knowledge created in the project will enrich both African and European partners and will allow cross-scale action within the ten cities hosting the food labs and beyond,” Dr. Nagothu adds.

Food System Labs in six African countries

HealthyFoodAfrica is to establish ten so-called Food System Labs in ten cities located in six countries in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, i.e. Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Benin, Zambia. Each lab will bring together local stakeholders – farmers, entrepreneurs, businesses, and policymakers.

«With the support of local and European experts, the labs will tackle particular locally relevant food system challenges, from consumer awareness to sustainable production, local food diversity, improved post-harvest technologies and food safety,” Dr. Nagothu explains.

«To achieve viable transformations in municipal, regional, national and cross-national food systems, we will connect actors from across the supply chain for joint actions, this being consumers and producers, urban and rural dwellers along with local initiatives across Africa,” he adds.

Will link different actors along food chains

Each of the ten Food System Labs will focus on parts of the local food system that require action and that have the potential to generate the nutritional and health impacts, as well as providing a significant learning potential. They will also serve as a deliberative space which allows researchers, practitioners and policymakers to develop lasting relations, common understanding and innovations that will go on beyond the timeframe of the project.

One of the main project goals is to establish a generation of new food system governance arrangements that link different actors along food chains, thereby fostering co-development and capacity building among relevant food system stakeholders.