The project will address key bottlenecks of African food value chains – low productivity, limited access to urban and international markets, affordability and convenience of products. It will tailor actions to develop novel solutions for agriculture, food manufacturing and use of residual biomass for packaging in a local context.

The double-sided fundamental challenge of our time is the survival with increasing population and decreasing agricultural production, because of the climate change, which is predicted to be the most severe in Africa. The very recent IPCC report on Climate Change and Land (Download PDF) shares the same concern on land use-related climate change, sustainable food security, nutritionally balanced and diverse diets. Further, EAT Lancet commission’s report (Download PDF) states that a rich plant-based diet with fewer animal sourced foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits.

The committed and generated excellence and targeted impact of InnoFoodAfrica are aimed to tackle the double-sided challenge. Solutions are created to establish diets and eating habits based on sustainably produced plant-based nutritious foods. InnoFoodAfrica deploys Afro-European co-creation power to start renewing the African food system with a focus on strengthening African plant-based food markets in Eastern and Southern Africa regions, and in Europe. “Food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on Earth” (Download PDF).

InnoFoodAFrica supports development of resource-efficient, safe and sustainable agro-food value chains by empowering smallholder farmers, producers and consumers via co-creation process with African and European experts

InnoFoodAfrica focuses on country-specific adaptation and implementation of plant-based diets tackling malnutrition of small children breast-feeding mothers and adults under the risk of obesity.

InnoFoodAfrica focuses on increasing resource-efficiency of the African agro-food value chains by reducing loss and waste by improved post-harvesting and storage practices, and by creating value from side streams via bio-based packaging solutions for replacement of plastic.

InnoFoodAfrica supports establishment of a pan-African food R&D&I  community via cooperation and creation of an open Innovation Platform to share innovations, maximize communication and facilitate technology transfer.

• New plant-based and healthy diets that on the short term are to become mainstream in 10 African cities
• Significant reduction of malnutrition of small children
• Smallholder farmers, especially women, empowered to act as active food chain operators in rural areas
• New market opportunities for novel African food products
• Solutions to convert food loss to packaging materials

WP1 gathers consumer insights and quantifies consumer attitudes on novel foodstuffs and packagings developed in the project. WP1 develops business models and value chains and trains local farmers and others business skills and empower them to become active value chain actors.

WP2 contributes to improve African diets in prevention of all forms of malnutrition (undernutrition of infants and overweight/obesity of adults). It identifies drivers causing undernutrition and overweight/obesity and develops food solutions, dietary guidelines and nutritional recommendations to reduce the malnutrition in South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

WP3 improves farming practices and food diversity. It promotes increased deployment of climate-smart crops, their cultivation and sustainable post-harvesting and storage practices to reduce loss as well as trains female and young farmers on good seed production practices.

WP4 develops safe and nutrient-dense food ingredients and products which tackle both nutrient deficiencies and obesity taking into account both small children and urban adults. The new ingredients and affordable and convenient foodstuffs are developed also to European markets due the high protein and low or non-existing gluten content.

WP5 valorizes the residues generated during and after harvesting and in food processing by converting the residues packaging materials that can be used to reduce food loss and waste, thus increasing the overall efficiency of the food system.

WP6 increases awareness and visibility of the project and creates an Innovation platform to engage local, national and international stakeholders for broad technology and knowledge transfer. It also takes care of the maximal exploitation of the project outcomes.

WP7 manages and coordinates the project and takes care of the quality assurance and minimizes risks.

WP8 makes sure that all ethical aspects such as protecting personal data, protection of environment and people as well as transferring biological material from Africa to Europe are considered and managed appropriately and according to European and national regulations.