Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Science and Innovation Forum 2024

16 - 18 October 2024. The third edition of the Science and Innovation Forum (SIF 2024) of FAO -  theme Inclusive Science and Innovation for Agrifood Systems Transformation, Leaving No One Behind, under the umbrella of the World Food Forum (WFF), together with the Global Youth Forum and the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum. This year’s theme is aligned with the WFF 2024 overall theme of Good Food for All for Today and Tomorrow.

This year’s notable participants include Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and two Nobel Laureates - Michael Kremer (Economics) and Carlos Nobre (Peace).

The forum’s technical sessions were organized around three critical themes: 
  1. Biotechnologies: Exploring the latest advancements and applications in biotechnology to enhance agricultural productivity, resilience, and sustainability.
  2. Community-Driven Innovations: Highlighting grassroots innovations and community-led initiatives that drive transformation of local and regional agrifood systems.
  3. Digital Agriculture: Examining the role of digital technologies, such as precision farming, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence, in revolutionizing agricultural practices and improving supply chain efficiencies.
    * see event: 15/10 Harnessing data and innovation for Africa’s agrifood transformation
Below video was embedded to start with the presentation of Nobel Laureate - Michael Kremer (Economics) 

Reports launched


The opening day of SIF 2024 witnessed the launch of two reports: 


FAO’s Office of Innovation is working with CIRAD and other partners on an FAO Chief Scientist initiative on foresight on pre-emerging and emerging agrifood technologies and innovations, aligned with UN 2.0 and The Future of Food and Agriculture 2022: engaging all key actors of agrifood innovation systems in the foresight on pre-emerging and emerging technologies and innovations (PETIAS) to better prepare for alternative futures, feeding it into anticipatory action, and convening the global community for constructive multilateral dialogue and knowledge exchange. 
  • The aim is to support policymakers, investors and innovation actors in their approaches and decision making.
  • The study assesses a selection of technologies and innovations, which potentially could be of paramount importance in addressing agrifood challenges until 2050, as well as the most important trends and drivers that will influence the emergence of agrifood PETIAS and their triggers of change, including some regional aspects and stakeholders' perspectives. 
  • The goal is also to build plausible future scenarios for the evolvement of the PETIAS and innovation process governance in the future with the time horizon of 2050 to inform future-oriented policymaking.
  • The report is built with inputs from a multistakeholder Delphi survey, online and in presence workshops with experts and stakeholders, the FAO FSN Forum, as well as regional foresight exercises (Latin America and Central Asia and Caucasus).

17/10 programme


Highlight:

Launch of 3rd round of Accelerator Mentorship Programme for Women-led SMEs in Africa


The event launched the third round of jointly-led FAO-IAFN initiative: Accelerator Mentorship Programme for Women-led SMEs in Africa. The initiative fosters 50 female entrepreneurs (mentees) across Africa, offering them mentorship from panel of experienced women entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector from around the globe. It contributes to more productive, sustainable and innovative agrifood systems by addressing social, economic, environmental and gender considerations.
  • Maurizio Martina Deputy Director-General, FAO 
  • Abebe Haile-Gabriel Assistant Director-General, FAO 
  • Carlos Watson Chief, Private Sector, FAO 
  • Caroline Wanjiru Mambo Chief Executive Officer, Wedgehut Foods Limited, Kenya
  • Elizabeth Kabakoyo Founder Glowish Agro Solutions, Uganda

    Glowish Agro Solutions is a social enterprise that increase agricultural productivity through theproduction of Eco organic fertilizer from agricultural waste that have improved agricultural productivity to small scale farmers in Uganda. We collect agricultural waste, cassava remains, and also banana peelings from community/farms to a production unit where it is turned into liquid biofertilizer. Our enterprise lies in the creation of regenerative solution, committed to fostering agricultural sustainability through innovation and social impact. Our journey began with an aim of providing 100% organic fertilizer, creating a regenerative solution that not only benefits the environment but also transforms the rural communities.

  • Robynne Anderson Secretary General, IAFN International Agro Food Network
    "Although we only trained 500 women, at the end we benefit 500,000 people)
  • Zainab Lawal Gwadabe Chief Executive Officer The Seed Project Co Ltd

This session discussed how rural communities can be engaged as leaders of innovation agendas and co-developers of solutions and empowered to engage the other stakeholders necessary to operationalize and scale their solutions for more sustainable agrifood systems.
  • Gabriela Quiroga Director of Strategic Partnerships, AgriCord, Belgium 
  • Eric von Hippel Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 
  • Gina Lucarelli Team leader, Accelerator Lab Network, UNDP 

    See PAEPARD blogpost Timbuctoo : Linking agricultural innovation to start-up accelerators

  • Astou Camara Director, BAME/ISRA, Senegal

    Santés & Territoires : La santé comme levier de développement dans le cadre de la transition agroécologique, living labs (Sénégal, Bénin, Laos et Cambodge.)
    Co-financé par l’AFD et l’Union Européenne (programme DeSIRA) et doté d’un budget de 6 millions d’euros (2021 - 2026)

  • Boniface Gomes Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development (BASD) 
  • Gissela Davila Cobo Director general, CIESPAL - Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores de Comunicación para América Latina, Ecuador
  • Isaac Muhofa Senior Venture Builder ROOTICAL, Uganda

    Example Garden Fresh: Annet Dianah Nannono: Garden Fresh develops natural solutions to extend shelf life in fruits and vegetables, in order to replace the use of harmful agrochemicals. Garden Fresh provides a solution to prolong the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by developing natural alternatives that prevent rotting and slow the ripening process.

  • Nzwaki Adonisi Moderator Impact Network Coordinator & Innovative Finance Specialist, WAI - Women in Africa Investments Group South Africa

    WAI (2024) WAI Group Impact Report - Women in African Investments # 51 pages

    Women in African Investments Group (WAI Group),     founded in 2017 by Elizabeth Howard, is a network of over 250 senior female investment professionals and ecosystem builders who are shaping the investment industry in Africa. -     backing investment models that are designed by and for women in Africa. 

  • Srinivas Mangipudi Artist Director Arts & Applications, Socratus Collective Wisdom Corporation 
  • Aurelie Toillier Moderator for interactive part Scientist in Agricultural Innovation Systems, OIN, FAO


Two innovation stories and their pathways to scale were illustrated
  • Hlami Ngwenya Moderator GFRAS
  • Adesuwa Ifedi Senior Vice President of Heifer Africa 
  • Iddo Dror Programme Leader Impact at Scale Team, CGIAR 
  • Isabel Guerrero Director, IMAGO Global Grassroots 
  • Ivan Stefanic Programme Manager for food chain technologies, novel & sustainable food, EISMEA 
  • Juan Moreno Director, Procasur Megha Desai Senior Coordinator, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Mohamed Manssouri Director of Investment Center, FAO 
  • Paul Harrison Director, Office of Agricultural Policy, Bureau of economic and business affairs, US Department of State

14 - 18 October Exhibition


SIF 2024 EXHIBITION Inclusive Science and Innovation for Agrifood Systems Transformation, Leaving No One Behind FAO Atrium | Zoom Event
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Harnessing data and innovation for Africa’s agrifood transformation

15 October 2024. About 200 participants gathered virtually for the Africa regional event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2024 on Harnessing Data and Locally-driven Innovation for Inclusive Sustainable Agrifood Systems Transformation in Africa. Hosted by the FAO Regional Office for Africa as part of the World Food Forum, the event highlighted the opportunities and challenges of using data to drive innovation across Africa’s agrifood systems.
  • Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Regional Representative for Africa "Data and digital innovations offer effective opportunities to address food security and economic growth challenges. By harnessing the power of data, we can improve productivity, make better decisions, innovate, and optimize value chains."
  • Dr Getaw Tadesse, Director of the Department of Operational Analysis at Akademiya2063- Tadesse emphasized the critical role data plays in formulating policies grounded in evidence and facts. However, he raised concerns about the quality, accuracy, and tracking of data across Africa, highlighting a gap between data supply and demand. 
  • Nelson Mupfugami, Director of Agricultural Statistics of Zimbabwe. 
  • Christian Irakoze, co-founder of Eza Neza, an agribusiness that specialises in hydroponics and greenhouse farming in Rwanda, said his company uses data analysis throughout the business, from production to sales including sensors to collect data from the greenhouses, that feed into his business decision-making. He has been focusing on hydroponics innovation to produce strawberries for domestic and export markets.
  • Daniel Annerose, CEO of Manobi Africa. His company uses data and digital platforms to organise value chains for increased agricultural production. He warned that “data will belong to those who finance the data collection” and urged African countries to invest in their own data systems to ensure sovereignty over the information that drives policy decisions.
  • Bjorn-Soren Gigler, Head of Data Economy, Digital and Green Twin Transition at GIZ, highlighted the importance of creating an enabling environment for data-driven innovation. "The enabling environment is critical. GIZ has supported the development of data governance frameworks which enable effective regulation, the establishment of digital public infrastructure and capacity building to help countries better mobilize data
  • Angella Ndaka, a human-technology interaction researcher at the Centre for Epistemic Justice in Kenya, brought attention to critical ethical concerns surrounding farmers’ data collection and use in agrifood systems.
This event will guide FAO’s future programmatic work, notably on data systems and digital agriculture, and open new opportunities for collaboration with partners across Africa and beyond.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

The Agribusiness Learning Alliances (ABLA)

Consultancy to Test and Validate the Agribusiness Learning Alliances (ABLA) Proof of Concept Based on Innovation Platforms of Six Third-Party Projects (TPPs) Expressions of Interest should be submitted no later than October 14, 2024.

Drawing from past lessons with the Integrated Agriculture Research for Development (IAR4D) approach, Innovation Platforms (IPs) have proven essential in putting the approach into practice. IPs, established as forums for stakeholders in a commodity value chain, support knowledge exchange, technology development, collaboration, capacity building, agribusiness growth, and policy influence. By adopting IPs, engagement is enhanced, strengthening the entire agricultural innovation system (Schut et al., 2017), including researchers, producers, the private sector, extension services, and policymakers etc.

Despite their potential value, many Innovation Platforms (IPs) have struggled to achieve sustainability and economic efficiency, particularly in increasing farm profitability. This is often due to their project-based nature, leading to a decline and disintegration after project completion, coordination challenges, limited government support, and a failure to leverage innovations like digital technologies. One key limitation of many IPs towards their sustainability has been identified as general lack of their linkages with businesses and the private sector which provide business services such as marketing and financial support to the IPs. 

To address these issues, one strategy that is being developed and tested by FARA is the concept of the Agribusiness Learning Alliance (ABLA). 
  • ABLA strengthens linkages and entrepreneurship within IPs, incubators, and similar facilities by integrating business development learning. 
  • This approach helps generate solutions, build capacities to overcome business challenges, and scale business ideas, providing socio-economic benefits for stakeholders and beneficiaries.
With financial support from the European Union Commission (EUC) under the CAADP-XP4 FARA, in collaboration withASARECA and tEAFF, has been piloting the Agribusiness Learning Alliances (ABLA) model in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda under the “Strengthening Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Ecosystem for Inclusive Rural Transformation and Livelihoods in Eastern Africa” (AIRTEA) project. The ABLA concept is aimed at enhancing an alliance between the IPs and the private sector to provide business approach and services needed to sustain the IPs.

The main goal of the AIRTEA project is to support sustainable agrarian livelihoods and rural transformation by fostering an inclusive innovation environment. Implemented through the Innovation to Impact Framework, the programme focuses on institutionalizing Innovation Platforms (IPs) to guide national prioritization, IP management, and multistakeholder collaboration. By facilitating partnerships and connecting stakeholders, the ABLA approach helps generate business development insights, create solutions, and build capacity to overcome business challenges and scale up ideas.

A recent assessment was conducted to review and articulate the ABLA concept, develop a methodology for establishing proof of concept to guide its implementation. This was needed to establish a baseline for the AIRTEA third-party projects to better understand the status, challenges, and areas for improvement for the various IPs operating under the third-party projects to bring them to a level where they would be viable for private sector engagement.

The baseline highlighted key areas for improvement, such as weak IPs-private sector engagement, improving market access, financial sustainability, and business models. Clearer governance roles and responsibilities within IPs are necessary, and limited access to capital remains a barrier for stakeholders in implementing and scaling innovations. Leveraging ICT and digital platforms is crucial for modernizing operations and improving engagement. Additionally, engaging women and youth is essential for fostering diverse and innovative ideas. The process also highlighted the need to empower stakeholders in third-party projects by enhancing their understanding and practical application of the Agribusiness Learning Alliance (ABLA) concept. This would include building capacity for business development and market access strategies, providing critical insights, and developing valuable skills along priority value chains.

This request for expression of interest aims at engaging a consultant to carry out the following functions:
  1. Prepare and present a brief inception report detailing the process and methodology for the assignment including identifying an assistant scientist to work with to carry out this assignment.
  2. Validate the selected TPPs based on their representativeness within the AIRTEA project and opportunities within the respective value chains.
  3. Develop a template for assessing the status and situational position of IPs in selected Third-Party Projects (TPPs) across Kenya (TPP1, TPP8, TPP9), Uganda (TPP5, TPP6), and Rwanda (TPP2).
  4. Facilitate the development of detailed action plans for IPs, including timelines, to address gaps and enhance the capacity (skills, knowledge, and resources) of IP members.
  5. Define the criteria and identify a facilitator for capacity building in business planning, financing, youth and gender inclusion, policy advocacy and partnership building, as part of the ABLA concept validation.
  6. Create user-friendly and simplified training materials for IPs as a guide to improve their viability for private sector engagement. (Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda)
  7. Develop an ABLA publication (a manual / handbook) that can be adopted across the ARD network as a support mechanism for IPs and MSPs.
  8. Develop a final consultancy report summarizing the activities, findings, and recommendations.
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How nature-based solutions can deliver corporate sustainability commitments


Nature-based solutions (NBS) play a pivotal role in delivering tangible impact and addressing corporate sustainability commitments. To achieve progress around nature protection, restoration and emissions mitigation at scale, collaboration between industry actors is also key. 

This webinar, hosted in partnership with Rimba Collective, will explore the real-life application of NBS through the eyes of various stakeholders as well as the challenges that arise during the implementation. 

  •  Emily Kunen, senior director, positive agriculture capabilities & forest risk, PepsiCo 
  • Martin Huxtable, global sustainable sourcing director, Unilever 
  • Andika Putraditama, director, Rimba Collective 
  • Michal Zrust, founder and CEO, Lestari Capital
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Monday, October 14, 2024

Opportunity Crops: A drive for viable current and future livelihoods

16 - 18 October 2024.  Opportunity Crops: A drive for viable current and future livelihoods Hosted by IITA. MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR UNDERUTILIZED LEGUMES (SUL)

Sub-themes:

  1. Exploration and Utilization of Indigenous Plant Genetic Resources
  2. Genetic Improvement, Biotechnology and Crop Modelling
  3. Crop Production and Health
  4. Healthy Nations through Opportunity Crops
  5. Natural Resources Management and Climate Change
  6. Nutrition, Food Processing and Value Addition
  7. Socio-economics and agribusiness in Opportunity Crops
  8. Gender-Responsive Innovations for Food Security and Policy
  9. Artificial Intelligence for Opportunity Crops Promotion

Parallel Technical Sessions (extracts) 

  1. Thematic Area 4: Healthy Nations through Opportunity Crops
  2. Thematic Area 6: Nutrition, Food Processing and Value Addition
  3. Parallel Technical Session: Gender-Responsive Innovations for Food Security and Policy

Highlights


  • Prof. Happiness Oselebe, Director, Centre for Crop Improvement, Nutrition and Climate Change (CCINCC), Ebonyi State University, Nigeria - Exploration and Utilization of Indigenous Plant Genetic Resources
  • Prof. Abiodun Musa Aibinu Vice-Chancellor, Summit University, Offa, Kwara State. Nigeria - Artificial Intelligence for Opportunity Crops’  Promotion
  • Prof. Sola Ajayi Vice-Chancellor, First Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria - Genetic Improvement, Biotechnology and Crop Modelling of opportunity


Resource

Journal of Underutilized Legumes

JUL is an official publication of the Society of Underutilized Legumes, is an international peer-reviewed journal that is generally seeking to be one of the world’s most rated, well-indexed, and most globally circulated journals in the nearest future. 
  • JUL is dedicated to publishing original research articles as well as reviews and short communications on issues relating to research and development and other issues geared towards improving the economics, utilization, conservation and general development of the underutilized legumes in the African Continent and the world at large. 
  • The Journal basically covers areas of Agronomy, Crop Development, Botany, Biochemistry, Ethnobotany, Taxonomy,Biotechnology, Climate change, Animal Nutrition, Law, Commerce, Economics, and any other Field or Discipline wherein the research/discourse is majorly based on underutilized legumes. 
  • To accommodate a wider scope, the journal publishes articles covering other underutilized crops.

You can see this journal's website here.
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Thousand African Youth Summit on food systems and agroecology

14-16 October 2024. In recent years, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) has significantly increased youth involvement through the establishment of the AFSA Youth Platform. This initiative aims to engage young Africans in promoting agroecology, seed sovereignty, land justice, climate action and putting them at the forefront of advocating for sustainable food system reforms and policies. 

In May 2023, the AFSA Youth Platform held a summit on Food Systems and Agroecology in Machakos county Kenya in 2023 (Report Here), the participants collectively agreed on key action items and next steps on youth engagements within the entire food systems chain in Africa. That Summit on food systems and Agroecology provided a space for African Youth to deliberate on challenges affecting them and the African Food Systems. 

 The “Thousand African Youth Summit on Food Systems and Agroecology” was agreed as a way forward to involve more African youth in providing and discussing solutions to the challenges facing African food systems and the youth involved. The summit is a significant gathering that aims to build upon the success of the African Youth Summit on Food Systems which was held in Machakos, Kenya, 2023. 

Summit Thematic Areas 

  1. Agroecological entrepreneurship in a climate crisis 
  2. Technological innovations for adaptation through agroecology 
  3. Leveraging indigenous and local community knowledge and practices to address issues related to the food and climate crisis. 
  4. Approaches to minimise conflicts in the context of the climate crisis through agroecology 
  5. Building resilience through biodiversity conservation in agroecology to cope with the climate crisis

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Meetings FAO in Rome on Agroecology

15 - 18 October 2024. World Food Forum 

Organized around three pillars - Global Youth Action, Science and Innovation and Hand-in-Hand Investment - the 2024 flagship event leverages the power of intergenerational collaboration, as well as partnerships and action across policy, science, innovation, education, culture and investment. This year, the event will also host the 2024 edition of the annual World Food Day and the High-Level Rome Water Dialogue on WASAG - The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture, as well as the Global Family Farming Forum, ensuring even more inclusivity, dialogues and solutions for the present and future of our agrifood systems.

15 October

10:30 – 12:30 CEST, FAO, Farm venue. SESSION 2 Public policy innovations for family farming, Global Forum on Family Farming. Dr. Fernanda Machiaveli Morão de Oliveira, Executive Secretary, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Brazil

14:00 – 14:30 CEST. Transforming Landscapes through a participatory co-design approach Presentation Corner (AGROMIX) Dr. Josep Crous-Duran, REVOLVE, Ms. Rosemary Venn, Coventry University (Centre for Agroecology Water and Resilience), Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schmutz,  Coventry University (Centre for Agroecology Water and Resilience)

16 October


13:00 – 13:30 CEST. Which public policies support agroecological and organic family farmers? Ms.
Cristina Grandi, IFOAM

14:00-15:00 CEST. Investing in capability-building of African youth in Agri-Food Science Hosted by Nestlé R&D, German room

14:00- 15:00 CEST. World Food Forum The role of Youth in the Agroecological Transformation: insights from Youth Networks from all over the world. A side-event on the pivotal role of youth in promoting agroecology, aiming to connect existing Youth Networks and ignite the creation of new movements and initiatives on sustainable agricultural practices 

14:30 – 16:00 CEST, FAO, Farm venue SESSION 6 Sowing rights: uptake of global policy instruments,  H.E Nosipho Nausca-JeanJezile, Chairperson, UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS);  Right to Food case study from Indonesia; Dr. Rolando González Patricio, President, Parlamento Latinoamericano y Caribeño (PARLATINO); Ms. Anya Coutinho, Leading Coordinator, Grădina Moldovei; Mr. Zainal Arifin Fuat, International Coordinating Committee of La Via Campesina

16:00 – 17:30 CEST, FAO, Farm venue. SESSION 7. Investing in family farming, Mr. Oliver Olivero, Coordinator and Head of the Agroecology Coalition Secretariat, Ms. Esther Penunia, Member of the Steering Committee of the Forest and Farm Facility and Secretary General of Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA); Mr Mohamed Fouad Bergigu, GEF Programming Specialist, Global Environment Facility, Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB); Mr. Nadjirou Sall, Member of the Steering Committee of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and Secretary General of Roppa

17 October

10:30 to 10:45 CEST and from 13:00 to 13:15 CEST. Co-designing a global Agrifood Technologies and Innovations Knowledge Base (ATIO KB)", will take place in the Acceleration Zone (room D085) with two spotlight moments

11:00 – 12:30 CEST. FAO, Farm venue. SESSION 9. Family farming for climate-resilient food systems, , Ms. Nissa Wargadipura, Joint-founder of At-Tariq farming field school, Indonesia; Prof. Arilson Favareto, Professor and researcher at Universidade Federal ABC - UFABC and Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento – Cebrap, Ms. Rim Ferchichi, Secretary General, Union Maghrébine et Nord Africaine des Agriculteurs (UMNAGRI); Ms. Lucrecia Rodríguez, Executive Secretary, Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC); Mr. Kyle Stice, CEO, Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON); Mr. Olou Adara, President, Coordination Togolaise des Organisations Paysannes et de producteurs agricoles (CTOP); Mr. Mujuni Mtembei Kamwesige, Senior Agriculture Officer, Ministry of Agriculture of the United Republic of Tanzania

14:30 – 16:00 CEST. FAO, Farm venue. SESSION 10 Diversified market opportunities for family farming, Mr. Chris Claes, International Executive Director, Rikolto, Ms. Elizabeth Nsdandala, President, Eastern African Farmers Federation (EAFF), Mr. Rafael Ortiz Quezada, Vice Minister for Scientific and Technological Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture of Dominican Republic; Mr. Richard McCarthy, President, World Farmers' Market Coalition; Ms. Patricia Flores, Senior Global Academy Manager, IFOAM; Mr. Saer Niang, Autorité de Régulation de la Commande Publique du Sénégal

16.30- 18.00 CEST Sciences and Innovation Forum Innovate Locally, Impact Deeply: exploring why and how to successfully support community-driven innovations 
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Tuesday, October 8, 2024

In the spotlight: Forgotten Foods / Opportunity Crops and Nutrition in the First 1000 Days

7 – 11 October 2024. University of Cape Coast – North Campus, Cape Coast, Ghana. The African Nutrition Society (ANS) and the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND) are organizing the 9th edition of the Africa Nutrition Conference (ANC2024 / ANEC IX).

Tuesday 8th October,2024. TRACK 1A: Food Systems and Nutrition in Africa

Securing sustainable good nutrition in the first 1000 days: The synergy of localization, social behaviour change communication and markets. Presenter: Kennedy Bomfeh


Launch of the Training manual: 
Why SBCC with Market Based Approach Creates Synergy Sustainable Nutrition Improvement Cycle
“Ghana PPP Model” by Market Based Approach with SBCC. 6TH EDITION JUNE, 2024, # 32 pp.

Background: Nutrition in the First 1000 Days 



The First 1,000 days – the time between conception to 24 months of life – has been considered a critical phase in a child’s development. Scientific evidence suggests that this period records the most rapid body development. For example, the brain records its highest growth rate and plasticity during this period, with tremendous implications for overall well-being, cognitive development and behavioral expression in later life. Nutrition plays a central role in the health outcomes realized at this point in life and beyond. Accordingly, nutrition in the First 1000 days is considered a unique window of opportunity during  which gains in general and cognitive development can be made, or irreversibly lost.


One of the critical irreversible adverse health effects of malnutrition in the First 1000 days is stunting. It is a condition in which a child experiences growth faltering, becoming too short for their age compared with WHO child growth standards, with corresponding lower cognitive development. Stunting stems from chronic or recurrent undernutrition, both of which, with concerted efforts, are preventable.

In Ghana, considerable government, private sector and development partners’ efforts have been centered on addressing stunting. Through these endeavours, stunting has declined from 33% in 1993 to 18% in 2022, according to the latest Ghana Demographic and Health Survey report. Though a commendable achievement, the number remains above the national target of 14% by 2025. More work is therefore needed to drive the rates further down. For more than a decade, the Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project (GNIP) of The Ajinomoto Foundation (TAF) has been a significant contributor to that drive.

 

GNIP and the fight against malnutrition in Ghana 


Started in 2009, GNIP is focused on preventing malnutrition among infants and young children. Itundertook product development of a protein and micronutrient nutrient powder (called KOKO Plus®) based on WHO guidelines for infant and young child nutrition (IYCN), conducted scientific efficacy studies that verified that KOKO Plus® is effective against stunting, and distribution model studies that evaluated delivery channel options for reaching the target population (children from 6 months old).

In the product development, to ensure sustainable production, due regard was given to the local food culture and local supply chains. This “localization” commitment emphasized the use of local raw materials for the manufacture of the product, the use of a local production facility and labour, and respect for the local food culture by making a sprinkle-type point-of-use supplement for traditional complementary foods. KOKO Plus® is a 15g powder supplement containing soybean flour, added lysine, and a mixture of vitamins and minerals. The product formulation has been published in the scientific literature. In 2018, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) registered KOKO Plus® as a “Nutritious Powder” in its food basket for Ghana.


Reaching the nutritionally vulnerable sustainably through social business 


Ensuring the availability, access and consumption of nutrients-dense complementary foods is essential for securing good nutrition  for every child. The approaches adopted to facilitate the availability  of,  and  access to  nutrients-dense  food  –  especially  those  in  the  supplements category – directly impact the sustainability of both the efforts and the resulting gains. Whereas in  food  crises  situations,  donation  is  a  required  humanitarian  approach  for  addressing malnutrition, in non-crises situations, other approaches that empower beneficiary communities to  (eventually)  own  the  solutions  to  malnutrition  would  be  more  sustainable  and  more supportive of robust domestic nutrition, health, and food systems, as well as livelihoods.   

Consequently, GNIP adopts a market-based distribution of KOKO Plus® to offer availability and access by, respectively, placing the product in convenience stores close to health facilities and the settlements of caregivers, and keeping the price within the reach of the bottom of the pyramid  (around  10  US cents per  sachet).  In  doing  this,  GNIP adopts  a  social  business approach, ensuring that the entire value chain is primarily managed by local people to address the  malnutrition  problem  while  strengthening  local  supply chains and  improving livelihoods. This  allows  a  direct  contribution  to  the  materialization  of  the  pledge  of  the  Sustainable Development Goals to leave no one behind. 

Consumption  for  good  nutrition  is  a  knowledge-driven  endeavour.  For  infants  and  young children, their nutrient intake heavily depends on the level of nutrition knowledge of caregivers, as this directly influences food selection, preparation and feeding practices. For that vulnerable group,  breastfeeding  and  complementary feeding  are  critical nutrition  pillars.  These,  done right,  prevent the more  than  30%  of  infant  and  young  child  deaths  that  are  attributable  to undernutrition.  It is reported  that poor  breastfeeding practices results in  more than  1 million child deaths, whiles an additional half a million deaths are linked to suboptimal complementary feeding. These highlight the need for caregiver education on what constitutes optimal feeding. 

In 2018, TAF and its local (Ghana) operating  agency – KOKO Plus Foundation (KPF) – signed a  memorandum of  cooperation  with  the  Ghana  Health  Service (GHS) through  which  the nutrition  education  efforts  of the  latter  are  augmented  with  co-developed, easy-to-use and easy-to-understand  job-aids  and  tools  for  knowledge  and  skills  transfer  on  optimal complementary feeding. Those materials are used in training health workers and for educating caregivers.  Through  this  public-private  partnership  (PPP),  TAF/KPF  and  GHS  have strengthened the social behaviour change communication (SBCC) in health service delivery, thereby contributing to the improvement of caregiver knowledge on IYCN. The SBCC activities involve stepwise one-on-one nutrition counselling as well as food and cooking demonstrations to show caregivers how to intentionally  select and prepare nutritious foods for children.  The use of KOKO Plus® is also recommended for improving the nutrient-density of meals. In 2019, more than 1,200 caregivers were trained in 20 cooking demonstrations organized in one of the beneficiary districts in the Central Region of Ghana. As at 2023, over 280 thousand caregivers had been reached nationwide.  


The synergy of SBCC and markets for driving improvements in nutrition 


Through  the  combination of SBCC and  market-based distribution  of KOKO Plus®, GNIP is facilitating the creation of a sustainable cycle for preventing infant and young child malnutrition by improving caregiver nutrition  knowledge  along  with  market-based distribution  of  KOKO Plus®. From 2019 to 2021, TAF/KPF, GHS and the World Food Programme (WFP) tested the synergy of SBCC and market-based nutrition intervention with KOKO Plus® in the Ashanti and Northern Regions of Ghana. The SBCC component involved education on optimal infant and young child  feeding (IYCF) practices, whiles the market component entailed  making KOKO Plus® available on the market for purchase. It was found that counselling  on IYCF through SBCC resulted in the following: 
  1. caregivers recorded more knowledge of optimal IYCF practices that an baseline (see Fig. 1); 
  2. caregivers  recorded  a  higher  purchase  of  KOKO  Plus®  (81.3%  of  caregivers purchased post-intervention vs. 60% at baseline);  
  3. children  of  caregivers who received IYCF were  15%  less likely to have  anaemia  at follow-up. 
These  suggest that the SBCC improved the understanding  of caregivers on optimal  IYCF, leading  to  a  modified  practice  of  intentionally  selecting  nutritious  foods  for  their  wards. Furthermore,  their  decision  to  purchase  KOKO  Plus®  for  their  wards  highlights  their willingness to spend on good nutrition after receiving nutrition education.  Fig. 1 summarizes the link between nutrition knowledge and purchase of KOKO Plus®. The data suggests that IYCF  knowledge  increased  after  the  SBCC, which  subsequently led  to  an  increase  in  the purchase  of  KOKO  Plus®.  Additionally,  intentional  purchase  of  KOKO  Plus®  may  be considered an indicator of intentional selection of nutritious foods in general, which in turn may have contributed  to better nutrition and health  outcomes (e.g., the observed lower incidence of anaemia). Thus, the increase in the purchase of KOKO Plus® after the nutrition education may be considered a proxy for the link between nutrition education and willingness to spend on nutritious foods. 

Fig. 1: Link between caregiver knowledge of optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and purchase of protein and micronutrient powder (KOKO Plus®) as a proxy for intentional purchase/selection of nutritious foods following nutrition education.


Scaling up the synergy, widening the social impact 


Building on the results of the 2019 – 2021 collaborative project, TAF/KPF, GHS and WFP with the support of the Japanese government, entered  a second phase of the project in  October 2021 to expand the SBCC and market-based nutrition intervention to 90 districts, targeting  a population  of 252,000 caregivers. The goal is to improve IYCF knowledge among caregivers in  urban  and  peri-urban  areas  through  SBCC,  emphasizing  dietary  diversity  and recommending KOKO Plus® to  prevent  malnutrition,  particularly  stunting  and micronutrient deficiencies in children. Through the project, it is expected that caregivers will be empowered to intentionally select locally available nutritious foods for their wards and use KOKO Plus® to improve  the  nutrient-density  of  complementary foods.  These,  ultimately,  are  envisaged  to improve the local nutrition, health and livelihoods situation.  

 

Conclusion 


Through the Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project (GNIP), The Ajinomoto Foundation  (TAF) in its public-private partnership with the Ghana Health Service, has shown that a combination of social behavior change communication (SBCC) and market-based delivery of nutritious food holds  promise  for  sustainable  nutrition  improvement,  as  it  fosters  a  change  in  mindset regarding what constitutes good nutrition and willful purchase of nutritious foods. Furthermore, the reliance of this approach on localization – realized in the  use of local raw materials, food production  and  distribution  systems, and respect for the  local  food culture –  strengthens its support for local livelihoods, thus reinforcing its sustainability.  

Kennedy Bomfeh (PhD) is the Director for Supply Chain and Academic Affairs at KOKO Plus Foundation and has been on the Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project since 2011. 



Esi Foriwa Amoaful is a nutritionist, public health specialist and Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition advocate. She is a retired Director of Nutrition for the Ghana Health Service. 




Upcoming:


  • Exploration and Utilization of Indigenous Plant Genetic Resources
  • Genetic Improvement, Biotechnology and Crop Modelling
  • Crop Production and Health
  • Healthy Nations through Opportunity Crops
  • Natural Resources Management and Climate Change
  • Nutrition, Food Processing and Value Addition
  • Socio-economics and agribusiness in Opportunity Crops
  • Gender-Responsive Innovations for Food Security and Policy
  • Artificial Intelligence for Opportunity Crops Promotion

14 October 2024. Validating the Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) indicator across population groups.
  • Next Monday, NRF invite you to the first online webinar, "Validating the Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) Indicator across Population Groups," held in celebration of World Food Day 🌍. 
  • This session will present key findings from NRF and FAO studies on using MDD as a proxy for nutrient adequacy among pregnant women, adolescent girls and boys, and men.

🎤 Speakers :

📅 Date: Monday, October 14th, 2024
⏰ Time: 10:00 am UTC / 12:00 CEST

🔗 Join here: https://lnkd.in/eMgCcAfN


Next webinars will be held on :
  • Wednesday, November 20th at 12:00 UTC, focusing on persistent undernutrition in the Sahel Tuesday,
  • December 10th at 11:00 UTC, on measuring women's empowerment as part of the SANOI - Food and Nutritional Security in the Indian Ocean project.
 

Related:


20/06: Local Private Sector and Nutrition for Women and Children
Representatives of local companies such as Nutri’zaza and Le Lionceau shared their business models, which are based on creating decent jobs, developing economically viable distribution networks and market safe nutritious and affordable products that appeal to as many people as possible.

Lynnette M Neufeld, et all. (2024) Food Systems Interventions for Nutrition: Lessons from 6 Program Evaluations in Africa and South Asia
Although there is growing global momentum behind food systems strategies to improve planetary and human health—including nutrition—there is limited evidence of what types of food systems interventions work.. The article highlights 5 challenges: 
  1. a lack of evidence base to justify the intervention,
  2. the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the interventions, 
  3. addressing attribution, 
  4. collecting or accessing accurate and timely data, 
  5. and defining and measuring appropriate outcomes. 
In addition to more specific guidance, the authors identify 6 cross-cutting recommendations, including a need to use multiple and diverse methods and flexible designs.

BD4FS (2022) Business Drivers for Food Safety Tools and Practices Feed the Future, USAID #169 pp. The Feed the Future Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS), funded by USAID and implemented by Food Enterprise Solutions (FES), is a multi-country (Senegal, Ethiopia, and Nepal) project that works alongside SMEs, or as they are referred to in the BD4FS project, “growing food businesses” (GFBs)

BIFAD (2024) Increasing the Demand for Healthy Diets Evidence on Approaches Across the Food System in Feed the Future Contexts Pre-Published Document Released for Public Comment September 6, 2024. # 54 pp. [1] GAIN (2020) Food system PPPs: can they advance public health and business goals at the same time? Analysis and ideas for moving forward. # 62 pp.
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Monday, October 7, 2024

In the spotlight: Agriculture Value Chain : A Solution Towards Youth & Women Employment In Africa

Roseline Delali Ashigbui is a young single mother who started her business out of nothing. 

An amazing young agri-socialpreneur transforms her life and women farmer life because of her personal experience. With tasks to map out young Agripreneurs, She trained and mentor them across CSAYN member countries. With her commitment toward this success story CSAYN recognized her as the Goodwill Ambassador for Agribusiness.

In 2013, her life took a bad turn but it did not stop her from living, rather it challenges her to become the better version of herself. Working for 72 hours without sleep was normal thing for Roseline; in spite of tiredness and loneliness, she always kept looking up and refused to remain poor. She saw many women in the community with same case and started thinking critically about the way to help herself and these women, going through similar challenges and also started identifying problems that women are facing in her community. This personal experience definitely inspired and motivated Roselyne to create her company: Delchris Africa Limited.
  • Post-harvest losses and food waste: The major challenge over the years for women farmer
    whose major occupation is cultivation of maize, groundnuts, brown rice, has being access to the right market for their farm produce in the Hohoe municipal area.
  • Youth and women empowerment and repossessing age-old farming as a business: the prevailing high rate of unemployment and the phenomenon of young school dropouts as a result of teenage pregnancy and single parenting. This will be resolved with the opportunity of offering meaningful jobs for self-sustainability.
  • Malnutrition: The deteriorating health conditions of most Ghanaians due to the adoption of negative foreign cultural behaviours whereby Ghanaians eat more of the unhealthy but attractively packaged imported foods full of chemicals. It is increasing the risk of some diseases such as kidney failure, cancers, tumours, cardiac arrest.
The company seeks to utilize backward integration process to offer ready market for the women involved in the cultivation of maize, groundnuts, brown rice, millet. It is integrating food waste management. The concept also provides employment for the youth in the area through the production and attractive packaging of our healthy indigenous Ghanaian foods and snacks, to meet global standards.

Delchris Africa Ltd Saves Life


Sturdily turning over her 20 cedis, with a little help from family, Roseline’s business has grown into helping some other women and youth with the direct engagement of 18 women and youth in my community. Currently, the company employs 12 women and 6 men at the age between 26 and 41 from different education level. Our amazing young business woman is full of integrity, passion, leadership. Also, she paid close attention to her collaborators: understanding them and the problems they are facing, knowing their dreams and passion. Engaging them at the factory was to help them worked and save money to pursue their dreams, but just engaging them was not enough. The company provides training in other trades like detergent making, saving, record keeping and a mentoring session.

Currently, Roseline funds smallholder women farmers in cultivating maize and brown rice farm, build a cottage factory/ training centre.
  • For all these years, about 20 youths have directly worked with Delchris Africa ltd
  • Three youth have successfully moved into pursuing their dream but still under my close monitoring, they come to work anytime they are in town ie currently
  • Two are still working with us but taking their degree course under distant education programme
  • There is mentoring of 16 young ladies’ businesses in various farming communities under solidaridad Africa

Awards and Recognitions

  • 2015: Best Agro-Processor of the Year (Ministry Of Agriculture, Farmers Day), Municipal
  • 2016: National Overall Best Graduate Enterprise Development Initiative (Eximbank Ghana)
  • 2017: Listed Most Outstanding Startup of the Year (Ghana Startup Award)
  • 2017: Listed Top 100 Most Outstanding Women Entrepreneur in Ghana (Women Rising)
  • 2017: Product Innovation of the Year Award (SME Ghana Awards)
  • 2018: first prize national board for small scale industries women pitch competition
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The African Nutrition Society (ANS) conference

7 – 11th, October 2024. University of Cape Coast – North Campus, Cape Coast, Ghana. The African Nutrition Society (ANS) and the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND) are organizing the 9th edition of the Africa Nutrition Conference (ANC2024 / ANEC IX).

Theme: “FOOD AND NUTRITION IN A CHANGING WORLD: Implications for nutrition security and health in Africa”

The ANEC IX Conference theme has been chosen to highlight and reflect the succession of global and regional crises and issues currently impacting on nutrition and health, and their implications for research, practice, advocacy and the training of nutrition and health professionals in Africa.
This year’s theme addresses key critical global issues which impact food and nutrition security and the

food supply chain. The theme also reflects current global dialogues and national commitments to food systems transformation for a better world. In recognition of the importance of, and to motivate government actors, policymakers, programme implementers and international development partners, we have chosen a policy-practice-facing theme with sub-themes that speak directly to national needs, commitments and targets for their food systems by 2030.

* Photos from the welcoming ceremony: serving traditional (forgotten, under utilised, indigenous, under researched) foods and beverages.

ANEC IX brings together students, academics, trainers and practitioners, as well as government and non-government actors, multilateral and bilateral organizations. The conference provides a forum for exchange of new knowledge and innovative approaches for the management of national priorities. Such discussions are complemented by country specific public engagement activities. The conference partners with media and modern communication technologies, assisted by supporting social marketing and advocacy efforts.


Track 1: Food Systems and Nutrition in Africa


Food systems transformation is a major area of global health and nutrition security interest. In this track, key focus areas include:
  • Monitoring and tracking food systems transformation
  • The food environment and their implications for health and disease
  • The nutrition transition in the context of Africa’s food environment and non-communicable diseases
  • Climate Change and Food in the Circular Economy
  • Traditional Knowledge, promotion and transformation of Africa’s indigenous food resources and their implications for the food industry

Track 2: Nutrition, Health and Wellbeing


This theme will explore issues relating to nutrition across the lifecycle in health and disease including pre-pregnancy maternal, infant and young child nutrition, Immuno-nutrition in health and disease, and nutrition in the management of diseases.

Key focus area include:
  • Food, nutrition security and the developmental origins of health and disease
  • Hidden hunger - Micronutrient nutrition /deficiency in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • School Health and Nutrition (beyond the first 7,000 Days)
  • Epidemiological trends in nutrition and lifestyle-related chronic diseases including cancers in Africa
  • Nutrition in the therapeutic management of disease
  • New technologies and nutrition surveillance methodologies and the quality and reliability of measurements for nutrition monitoring, decision-making and policy

Track 3: Training and Capacity-Building for Nutrition


This theme will cover education, training and professional practice in the fields of nutrition and dietetics across Africa.

Key focus areas include:
  • Pedagogical issues and harmonization of nutrition and dietetics curricula in Africa
  • Current global trends and shifts in education and training emphasis and scope.
  • Country experiences on training, licensure and nutrition and dietetics professional practice.
  • Nutrition education and communication in professional practice

Track 4: Special Events: Nutrition Governance in Africa; the African Diaspora in Nutrition


This track will feature Expert Panel/Round Table discussions and a debate on cross-cutting contemporary issues with policy implications at national and regional levels

Track 4A: A Roundtable Discussion: Nutrition governance in Africa

Key focus areas:
  • What is important for nutrition governance in Africa?
  • New directions and roles of Centres of Excellence for Nutrition in Africa: generating research evidence for policymakers
  • Exploring policies, national, regional commitments, targets,
  • Nutrition leadership
  • Challenges and opportunities

Track 4B: A Debate: The African Diaspora and Nutrition Training and capacity-building

Key focus areas include:
  • African scientists and experts in the diaspora – “Brain drain or brain gain”?
  • Contributions of Africans in diaspora to the Nutrition landscape in Africa.
  • Challenges and opportunities for collaboration and building research, leadership and advocacy capacities
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Friday, October 4, 2024

Regenerative Agriculture: Experience from Kenya

2 October 2024. Regenerative Agriculture: Experience from Kenya

The recording is here https://youtu.be/fYY9XcpOUo0

  • Hand International works in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan to empower people, particularly women, in their economic activities which we contribute to poverty reduction.
  • It brought various technical assistance work—such as regenerative agriculture—to help farmers improve their productivity and crop quality.
Speakers:

  • UN FAO advisor and global agroecology expert, Pablo Tittonell, Nicholas Syano, permaculture expert and founder of the Drylands Natural Resources Centre (DNRC) 
  • Japheth Muli, Hand in Hand Eastern Africa Regenerative Agriculture Lead
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Systemic approaches for sustainable growth, employment and resilience

1 - 3 October 2024. The DCED, together with the BEAM Exchange – its knowledge platform on market systems development (MSD), has been running regular highly-regarded global seminars about private-sector development (PSD) since the early 2000 – including in Nairobi (2018), Lusaka (2016) and Bangkok (2014, 2012 and earlier). 

Extract of the programme:

Climate Adaptation and Environmental sustainability

  • Navigating green private sector development: donor priorities, implementer realities with Melina Heinrich-Fernandes (DCED Secretariat)
  • Greening the MSD approach in agriculture with Clara García Parra (The Canopy Lab), Amanda Jerneck (ILO), John Rachkara (Mercy Corps), Luana Ayala (ILO), Frédérique Weyer (SDC), Thabani Moyo (NIRAS)
  • Green jobs and the just transition: applying a systems lens with Steve Hartrich (ILO), Jack Steege (Gatsby Africa), Mahlet Seifu Woldeabraham (Mercy Corps), Freddy Koch (Swisscontact)

02 Side event: Building Bridges: Donor and DFI 

Collaboration Event by British International Investment (BII) and FMO
  • This event brought together senior leaders from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), donor agencies, and key stakeholders to showcase successful strategies for fostering effective DFI-donor collaboration. 
  • They highlighted lessons from an upcoming research report and from live initiatives such as ARIA and Invest for Impact Nepal, providing practical insights into how collaboration can unlock impactful investments in frontier markets. 
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