InnoFoodAfrica is currently collaborating with the following projects in order to reach a wider audience and influence policy and practice in food systems both in Africa and the EU through a joint effort.

LEAP4FNSSA is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) whose main objective is to provide a tool for European and African institutions to engage in a Sustainable Partnership Platform for research and innovation on Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA).

Under the aegis of the High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) and its Bureau, building upon former EU funded projects such as RINEA, CAAST-Net Plus, ProIntensAfrica and linking with the ongoing ERANet Cofund LEAP-Agri, LEAP4FNSSA aims to achieve its main objective through:

• Increased synergies and coherence between actors, research and innovation projects, initiatives and programmes, through the development of institutional alliances and clusters of projects.
• An enhanced learning environment and large knowledge base, including monitoring and evaluation activities, and established communication and links between different initiatives in order to improve European-African cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
• A well-established long term sustainable partnership and co-funding mechanism.

The project will have a 4-years duration, from November 2018 to October 2022.

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 HealthyFoodAfrica 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.

FOODLAND aims at enhancing the diversity of food production and consumption in six African countries displaying different stages of the nutrition transition. To this end, FOODLAND will create a network of 14 local Food Hubs that will aggregate relevant actors and serve as injection points for the introduction of innovations.
FOODLAND has identified specific objectives addressing the organizational, technological, and nutritional needs of the local African food systems to be reached during the four-year project duration:

1. to detect behaviour and preferences of consumers and producers, in order to customize innovations to local sensitiveness;
2. to develop and implement organizational innovations, aimed at boosting coordination among food operators;
3. to develop, test, and validate (open) technological innovations in laboratory and in the field;
4. to disseminate knowledge of solutions towards malnutrition reduction and innovations.

Through participative approaches in the Food Hubs, FOODLAND will create and validate (TRL 5) 12 prototypes for crop and fish farming and food processing systems that will deliver 17 novel food products. FOODLAND will empower smallholder farmers and food operators, will foster nutrition-responsive and sustainable agro-biodiversity, will reinforce the productivity and resilience of food supply chains, and will create new market opportunities at both the local and global scales, thereby encouraging the flourishing of rural communities. These achievements will benefit both African and European consumers by providing them with traditional-based, healthy, nutritious foods, while encouraging the diffusion of African diets and aiding the fight against malnutrition, particularly in women and children.