HealthyDietes4Africa Agribusiness Accelerator Program Cohort II Inception Workshop
As part of the European Union-funded HealthyDiets4Africa Project, Food Security for Peace and Nutrition Africa (FSPN-Africa) is engaging youth and women innovators in leading Food System transformation in Kenya through the Youth and Women in Agribusiness Innovators Accelerator Program Cohort 2. The program’s main goal is to empower, strengthen, and shape youth and women-led innovations to scale and be investor-ready.
This initiative will provide a platform for participants to improve their innovations and build their business capacities through E-learning, face-to-face training, and linkage to partners, experts, and key resources. This will support the adoption of their agrinutrition innovations and gain consumer traction necessary for scalability.
The workshop will be attended by FSPN Africa Team, project Partners in Kenya and Agri-innovators who made successful applications. Mr. Kalvince Otieno, FSPN Africa Regional Director will be giving Keynote speech about the journey and work of FSPN Afrca. Additionally, Dr. Emmanuel Donkor, Project Manager and Dr. Juliana Kiio, WP6 Lead from Kenyatta University will grace the event and give Keynote addresses.
8th Agrifin Learning Event
Mercy Corps AgriFin and its partners have long been at the forefront of supporting African Agtech, fintech development, and digital climate-smart agricultural services in the region. Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by technology startups and their investors over the past few years, particularly those aimed at improving the lives of small-scale producers and enhancing rural economies, the commitment remains steadfast. This pivotal moment calls for reflection and support for determined founders and teams striving to make a lasting impact.
The 2024 AgriFin Learning Event (ALE) will provide a platform for in-depth discussions and candid conversations with DFS enablers & investors, Government representatives & policy makers, donors and small-scale producers. The event will focus on regulatory enablers and barriers, aiming to establish how digital ecosystem players can foster inclusive and sustainable digital agricultural transformation.
Together, they will ideate, define, and develop strategic breakthroughs to shape the future of partnerships and innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, recognizing the transformative era of digital public goods and infrastructure.
FSPN Africa will be showcasing some of the innovations it is supporting on value addition and digital nutrition that are improving the livelihoods of youths, enhancing food safety and increasing access to diversified diets from underutilized indigenous foods. The innovations are aiming to improve convenience through value addition and access to nutrition information to enhance behaviour change. See you at 8th ALE, where you will experience work done by FSPN Africa.
Theme: Enabling Rural Economy: Creating Lasting Impact for the Digital Ecosystem in Africa
INNOECOFOOD Inception Workshop and Stakeholder Engagement, Kenya.
INNOECOFOOD aims to establish innovative production/ business ECOHUBS and improve local aquaculture farms using AI and IoT in six African countries. To support EU-AU markets and trade, INNOECOFOOD will train rural farmers, youth and women to innovatively produce and process nutritious aquaculture catfish and tilapia, blue-green cyanobacteria spirulina, and insect value chains that will be processed into certified marketable human food products and feed.
This workshop brings together all the stakeholders of the project including community members, religious leaders, schools, the business community, local government authorities and project consortium partners in Kenya to discuss the outcomes and impact the project will achieve. It will provide an opportunity for the consortium partners to outline their roles in detail as well as expectations from the community.
This will be the official inception of the project in Kenya where the ECOHUB plan will be presented to the community leaders and local government authorities who will be the steering wheel of the ECOHUB.
CHANGEMAKERS PROJECT KICK OFF WORKSHOP
There is an increasing epidemic of adolescent obesity that can contribute to adult obesity, morbidity & NCDs in a broader sense. Sustainable health interventions in urban low- and middle-income countries are critical in addressing lifestyle factors that contribute to obesity, diabetes, & hypertension in later life, such as unhealthy dietary habits, inactivity & sedentary behaviors, while shaping urban environments.
Considering obesity is a complex issue that is influenced by wide range of interconnected factors, such as policy, environment, social, economic, cultural, behavioral, commercial, & biological determinants, a whole-systems approach that converges multiple sectors (i.e., health, education, environment, and agriculture) and stakeholders (i.e., adolescents, caregivers, staff, local government, communities, policymakers & implementers) are needed for obesity prevention in LMICs.
Therefore, this European Union funded 4-year project goal is to implement & evaluate a sustainable health intervention program on health, nutrition, & environmental outcomes for the primary prevention of adolescent obesity & related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) together with adolescents in three rapidly urbanizing cities in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Tanzania.
The thick-off workshop is scheduled to take place at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, from February 19th to 22nd, 2024.
Stakeholder and Kick Off Workshop – HealthyDiets4Africa.
The HealthyDiets4Africa Project, Funded by the European Union, is designed to provide practical and innovative solutions tailored towards combating malnutrition in Africa through diversification of the Foods we consume. The food choices in the nexus are indigenous varieties which will be informed by food environment assessment outcomes, food safety and development of recipes to guide on the food preparation.
The workshop hosted by Makueni County, organized by, Kenyatta University supported by FSPN Africa, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT will focus on two main areas; Development of complementary feeding recipes from the underutilized foods and Food Safety situation in Kenya, health burden, legal framework & information gaps on dietary exposure to three toxicants; Acrylamide, aflatoxins, heavy metals and health concerns.
To unpack information on Food Safety & Legislation there will be deep dive presentation and discussion on the role of KEBS in ensuring safe food is the Kenyan markets.
Furthermore, this workshop will reveal nutrition status among children under-five years in Makueni County, factors promoting/hindering healthy diets in the community (including food environment factors) and developing of complementary feeding recipes in low resource setups to incorporate neglected and underutilized foods in children’s diets.
7th Agrifin Learning Event
Smallholder farmers in Africa are affected by multiple stressors and shocks that negatively disrupt farming systems and consequently threaten farmers’ livelihoods. These stressors are caused by environmental and economic shocks. Economic shocks include those caused by conflicts that lead to failing agricultural markets.
Environmental shocks include the effects of climate change that lead to the proliferation of disease incidences and pest infestation, such as the 2019 – 2021 desert locust invasion, droughts, and floods. In addition, smallholder farmers (SHFs) are heavily affected by pandemics such as Covid-19. The booming digital technology era provides a viable way to build farmers’ resilience to cope with the shocks.
FSPN will be showcasing how we can better link nutrition, technology and resilience. Visit our booth to learn from Young Innovators about post-harvest management through value addition and improved recipes of our indigenous foods produced by SHFs. Additionally, you will get a chance learn howThe Shamba Calendar is linking farmers to support services and markets.
FSPN Africa is thrilled to be taking in 7th Agrifin Learning Event (ALE) part powered by Mercy Corps and hosted by the AgriFin. The aim of the event is to bring together stakeholders in the agricultural sector who are focused on leveraging digital technology, to drive the sector’s growth, and improve the lives of smallholder farmers.
See you then.
Africa Climate Week & Summit 2023
ACW 2023 builds momentum ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference COP 28 in Dubai and the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake, designed to chart the way for fulfilling the Paris Agreement’s goals and provide region-focused contributions to inform the Global Stocktake.
The event is hosted by the Government of Kenya, organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, with the support of regional partners: African Union (AU), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
FSPN Africa Regional Director is taking part as a Speaker.
Explore the full programme of ACW 2023.
Source: UNEP