L'importanza delle innovazioni, dei processi partecipativi e della formazione nei sistemi alimentari locali per la transizione verso sistemi alimentari sostenibili e il raggiungimento degli SDGs nel contesto dell'Africa sub-sahariana

Nowadays worldwide food systems are not sustainable. Production techniques fail to respect ecological needs by drying up and depleting water supplies, impoverishing and degrading soil, eroding biodiversity and strongly contributing to greenhouse gas emission. Meanwhile, the production value along the agri-food chain is not fairly and transparently redistributed and inequalities are constantly increasing. In addition, business-as-usual practices create massive food waste and losses and, therefore, unnecessary environmental impact. Furthermore, the demand for food constantly increases due to a growing global population, urbanisation as well as the increase in consumption driven by unsustainable economic models. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a transition to sustainable food systems capable of generating benefits, or economic value-added for all stakeholders; promoting socio- cultural outcomes such as nutrition and health, traditions, labour conditions, and animal welfare, while considering possible vulnerabilities such as gender, age, or ethnicity; employing processes with a neutral or positive impact on the surrounding natural environment to restore biodiversity, water, soil, animal and plant health. To achieve these results a systematic transformation is required, employing solutions based on real problems, expressed by the most disadvantaged populations. The proposed research addresses the role of innovations in fostering the transition to sustainable food systems. In particular, it aims to investigate a Multi-actor approach employed in the development of a training course through the employment of four main methods: co-creation, co-learning, co-management and interdisciplinarity. Targeting the generation of innovative and bottom-up solutions to address context-specific problems. The “training kit for innovative food product and process development”, used as a case study, is part of the broader HealthyFoodAfrica (HFA) project funded by Horizon 2020. HFA is a research & innovation project aiming at more sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems in 10 African cities. Moreover, the project represents the collaborative effort of 17 partners in Europe and Africa and will be implemented in the period between June 2021 and December 2023. The T-kit is essentially an open-source handbook for different kinds of vocational education and training (VET) providers and intended for trainees at different educational levels in the sub-Saharan context. It also represents the scientific framework for the organisation of the summer school which will be held in July 2022 and 2023. During the summer school students and local entrepreneurs, guided by the project partners, will have the opportunity to submit real problems related to their geographical context and collaborate to find innovative solutions and opportunities. My contribution to the realisation of the training course was mainly related to the knowledge I acquired during my academic career (Food Science and Local Development). In the project I could combine the two experiences to support practical applications in the use of food systems for local development, mainly in Ghana and Kenya. Therefore, food plays a decisive role in strengthening local populations, improving their economy, and limiting the consequences of climate change. Attributes implicit within sustainable food systems.