Launched in December 2022, AfriFOODlinks is a 4-year, €12m EU-funded project that gathers 26 partners to improve food security and urban sustainability in 65+ cities in Africa and Europe by:
- Applying an urban food systems lens to promote shifts to healthy, sustainable diets
- Transforming urban food environments through real-world socio-technical experiments
- Promoting inclusive multi-actor governance to empower public officials, small businesses and communities with ownership and agency to shape their food systems
- Accelerating innovative, women- and youth-led agri-food businesses to support local value addition and inclusive economic participation
Working in close collaboration with City of Cape Town officials and local community stakeholders, SAUFFT is leading socio-technical experiments in two Cape Town informal food market environments in Langa and Bellville. These include a set of diverse ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ innovations from how local authorities understand and engage with communities (and vice-versa), to management and processing of organic waste streams (including waste avoidance), to co-design of infrastructure (including mobile and temporary), food safety and environmental health programmes, placemaking and food culture strengthening, nutrition and public health programmes, and more.
SAUFFT is also leading the introduction of Food Dialogues in four other African cities of Tunis (Tunisia), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Kisumu (Kenya) and Mbale (Uganda), and in partnership with local Cape Town partners, the African Centre for Cities (University of Cape Town), Oribi, and ICLEI Africa, is playing key roles in research, entrepreneurial development, innovative financing for SMMEs in the food system, development of policy briefs and more.
AfriFOODlinks is an African-conceived, African-led project with European learning partners, which is grounded in a strong set of principles and approaches that ensure the interests and benefits of Africans and African cities remain the priority.
Details on the overall project at afrifoodlinks.org.
SA Urban Food & Farming Trust 