UNES partnered with InnoFood Africa to explore climate-smart African crops in Kenya. InnoFood Africa is also exploring similar projects in Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda. The aim is to develop and demonstrate optimal solutions for cropping practices, processing and productization of crops to foodstuffs and bio-packaging via new value chains to markets. It will enhance adoption of nutritionally balanced food consumption in urban Africa and create opportunities to launch the new foodstuffs to international markets.
The main output is to demonstrate the waste potential of African crops as healthy food raw materials in combating malnutrition in the continent. The emphasis will be to target the new foods to vulnerable people such as malnourished infants, expecting mothers and urban adults under the risk of obesity. This will be done by increasing the diversity of affordable, nutrient-dense and healthy food products made of using local crops as raw materials and supporting the people to eat more healthily.
African agri-food systems are facing numerous challenges related to climate change, rapid population growth and urbanization. Both food production and consumption patterns must change in order to provide access to nutritious food while counteracting social inequality, environmental degradation, food loss and inadequate waste management.
In Healthy Food Africa we work in African-European collaboration to improve nutrition in Africa by strengthening the diversity, sustainability, resilience and connectivity of food systems. Our aim is to increase the range and quality of food products for a healthy diet as well as improve access to nutritious food. Our work is organised in thematic Work Packages that have a focus on five thematic aspects of food systems, and localized in ten African cities, the so-called Food System Labs.
InnoFoodAfrica will address the key barriers of the African agro-food system, i.e. low productivity, limited access to urban and international markets, affordability and convenience of the foodstuffs. Capacity building targeted especially to women in the four countries will include improved practices in increasing productivity of indigenous crops, post-harvesting technologies, crop residue valorization, nutritional guiding and business skills.