VIRTUAL MEETING: 1st Africa Food Environment Research Network Meeting

3 – 5 November 2020. Meeting Theme: Connecting Food Environment Researchers across Africa.

Improving food environments in Africa is an urgent priority. In recent decades, rapid urbanization, coupled with changes in food environments, has been driving the “nutrition transition” in Africa[1]. Dietary habits of people in Africa are shifting towards unhealthy processed foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt. This has resulted in increasing rates of obesity and associated diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), coexisting with the age-old burden of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. 

Africa needs policies designed to create supportive food environments for healthy food choices for everyone. Research is also needed of how food environments are experienced by people, such as, how food environments inside children and adolescents’ homes, schools or communities routinely influence their food consumption. This contextual evidence provides insights into which policies may be more effective in reaching those most in need.

Against this background, the MEALS4NCDs Project convened the first Africa Food Environment Research Network Meeting (FERN Meeting). This virtual event connected researchers in the African sub-region and Global North whose work relate directly or indirectly to improving food environments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

See the programme and all the presentations on the FERN website

Day 1- Nov 3, 2020

Opening

Welcome Message/Opening RemarkS (PDF) / Video – Prof. Amos Laar, Project Leader & Principal Investigator, MEALS4NCDs Project, Department of Population, Family & Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana

[Presentation] Providing Measurements, Evaluation, Accountability, & Leadership Support (MEALS) for NCDs Prevention: Lessons from Ghana (PDF) / Video – Prof. Amos Laar, Project Leader & Principal Investigator, MEALS4NCDs Project

FERN Launch (PDF) / Video – Prof. Kwasi Torpe, Head, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive
Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.

Presentations

Dr. Christopher Turner, Research Fellow in Food Systems and Public Health Nutrition, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK. Food environment research in LMICs: concepts and emerging evidence (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Hibbah Osei-Kwasi, AXA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Sheffield, UK. Development of the African food environment framework (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Mark Spires, Research Fellow, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, UK. Approaches to understanding lived experiences of food environments: a Community of practice (PDF) / Video

Prof. Christine Blake, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina, USA. Understanding Drivers of Food Choice: What, How, and Why do People Eat the Way they do? (PDF)  / Video

Mr. Dominic Rowland, Research Fellow, UKRI GCRF action against stunting Hub, UK. Preview of Preliminary Food Environment Experience Metric (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Gershim Asiki, Research Scientist (Medical Epidemiologist). African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya. Developing a package of effective regulatory interventions for healthier food environments in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Isabel Madzorera, Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard School of Public Health, USA. Diet Quality for Women: Relation to Adverse Birth Outcomes in Tanzania (PDF)  / Video

Prof. Charles Agyemang, Professor, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM Study)  / Video

Prof. Adama Diouf, Professor, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal. Evaluation of Public Policies for the Creation of Healthy Food Environments in Senegal: Results and Perspectives (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Namukolo Covic, Senior Research Coordinator, International Food Policy Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Food system transformation using diet quality as an entry point: lessons for work on food environments (PDF) / Video

Prof. Felix Asante, Professor and Pro Vice Chancellor, Office of Research, Innovation and Development, University of Ghana. Mr. Makafui Dzudzor, PhD student, ZEF, University of Bonn, Germany. Partnerships for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Urban African Food Systems – evidence and strategies – The NOURICITY Project (PDF)  / Video

Dr. Reginald Annan, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Exploring Ghana’s Food Environment: Researching Obesogenic  Food Environments in Ghana / Video

Prof. Richmond Aryeetey, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Ghana. Development of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in Ghana: A Learning Journey (PDF) / Video

Day 2 – Nov 4, 2020

Presentations

Dr. Stefanie Vandevijvere, Capacity Building Exercise. Introduce FERN delegates to the INFORMAS’ Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) (PDF)  / Video 

Mr. Sukati Mphumuzi, Senior Nutrition and Food Systems Officer, FAO Regional Office for Africa, Accra Ghana. Ending Hunger Initiative: Updates from FAORAF / Video 

Prof Karen Hofman, Professor and Director of PRICELESS SA, SA MRC/ Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision, Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax process in South Africa (PDF) / Video 

Mr. Peiman Milani, Consultant, Rockefeller Foundation. Improving Diet Quality across Food Environment (PDF) / Video 

Mr. John Nortey, Deputy Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Statistics, Research and Information Directorate, Ghana. Monitoring the Cost of Nutritious Diets: Updates from MoFA-SRID (PDF) / Video 

Dr. Nicholas Bricas, Researcher, CIRAD, UMR Moisa, Montpellier, France. How Social Sciences can Contribute to Food Environment Studies / Video 

Prof. Kenneth Yongabi Anchang, Professor, Imo State University, Nigeria. Presentation (PDF)  / Video 

Dr. Ali Jafri, Assistant Professor, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Casablanca, Morocco. Changing Food Environments to Prevent NCDs in Morocco: Initiatives to Lower Sodium Intake / Video 

Dr. Muniirah Mbabazi, Researcher, Nutrisat, Uganda. Presentation  / Video 

Dr. Meenal Dhall, Assistant Professor, University of Delhi, India. Nutrition and food habits of African and Indian population: An Anthropological perspective (PDF) / Video 

Day 3 – Nov 5, 2020

Presentations

Prof. Amanda Lee, Capacity Building Exercise, Introduce FERN delegates to INFORMAS’  Food Prices Module / Video

Dr. Sally Mackay, Optimal approach: example 2- DIETCOST. Modelling the cost differential between healthy versus current, less healthy diets (PDF) [YouTube  https://youtu.be/xveDnFXUhuY]

Vanessa Nigten, Knowledge Broker, Netherlands Food Partnership. Ghanaian Urban Food Environments Coalitions: Short overview of Netherlands Food Partnership Work (PDF) / Video 

Prof. Francis Zotor, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Head, Department of Family and Community Health
University of Health & Allied Sciences, Council Member, International Union of Nutritional Sciences. Moving the Nutrition Agenda for Africa’s Development / Video 

Closing

Closing Remarks (PDF)  / Video – Prof. Amos Laar, Project Leader & Principal Investigator, MEALS4NCDs Project