Knowledge sharing to improve the sustainability of food systems in West Africa: Lessons learned from the Food Systems Caravan

Auteurs-es

  • Fernando Sousa Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Switzerland
  • Claudia Zingerli Head, ETH Sustainability, Switzerland
  • Sètchémè Charles Bertrand Pomalegni Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Benin

Mots-clés :

Food Systems caravan, Knowledge sharing, Agroecology, Sustainability of Food Systems, Research for Development

Résumé

Le partage des connaissances et la co-création pour l'application offrent des voies pour les défis multidimensionnels des systèmes alimentaires en Afrique de l'Ouest qui sont à ce jour encore largement sous-explorés. Ces deux approches ont le potentiel pour l'émergence de communautés de pratiques performantes pour faire face à certaines des menaces graves auxquelles les systèmes alimentaires ouest-africains sont confrontés actuellement et dont certaines trouvent leur origine dans l'exploitation à long terme par les puissances coloniales et postcoloniales internes et externes. Le projet Food Systems Caravan (www.foodsystemscaravan.org) a cherché à briser les barrières de connaissances entre les différentes parties prenantes et générations des systèmes alimentaires ouest-africains. Le projet a réuni des décideurs politiques, des chercheurs, des agriculteurs, des agents de vulgarisation, des étudiants, des ONG et d'autres parties prenantes dans une série d'événements visant à promouvoir l'apprentissage réciproques, le partage des connaissances et le dialogue au Mali, au Burkina Faso, au Ghana, au Bénin et au Nigeria pour une compréhension commune des défis et solutions aux systèmes alimentaires d'Afrique de l'Ouest. L'expérience de la Caravane des systèmes alimentaires a montré que les méthodes participatives de partage des connaissances autonomisent les acteurs locaux et nationaux, améliorent l'apprentissage croisé et activent les réseaux endogènes de parties prenantes. Le projet a exploré et expérimenté des approches multimédias et incitatives innovantes pour le travail de développement qui peuvent être reproduites et utilisées pour activer le changement de manière plus efficace par rapport aux efforts traditionnels de développement nord-sud.

Bibliographies de l'auteur-e

Fernando Sousa, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Switzerland

Fernando Sousa has spent over a decade at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, Aargau, Switzerland, contributing to research and consultancy projects focused on organic agriculture techniques in West Africa, particularly in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Benin. As a researcher, he has played a key role in the Systèmes de Production Biologique project, collaborating with farmers and experts to adapt these techniques to local contexts. He has also completed internships and served as a Guest Researcher on Food Systems at the Estoril Conferences in Lisbon, Portugal, where he focused on issues of food security and international trade.

Claudia Zingerli, Head, ETH Sustainability, Switzerland

Claudia Zingerli started as Head ETH Sustainability in June 2022 after previous assignments at ETH Zurich as senior scientist (2002-​2006), education lead of Climate-​KIC Switzerland and lecturer in D-​USYS (2010-​2014). Between 2014 and 2022 she acted as scientific coordinator of the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d) and the Solution-​oriented Research for Development programme, implemented by the Swiss National Science Foundation. She is board member of the Swiss Academic Society of Environmental Research and Ecology. She holds a Master’s degree in geography, social anthropology and economics from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, and a PhD degree in development studies from the University of East Anglia, UK. In her academic work, she focuses on the political nature of natural resource management as well as the politics of knowledge production in sustainable development.

Sètchémè Charles Bertrand Pomalegni, Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Benin

Sètchémè Charles Bertrand Pomalegni is a researcher affiliated with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAB), Benin, specializing in animal and fish production. His expertise spans various disciplines including agricultural engineering, agroecology, dissemination, food security, food systems, insect for animal feed, international network, organic resources for soil enhancement, and research for development. He has been actively involved as an applicant in the Capitalization of Agroecological Research Evidence from the r4d programme in West Africa (CARE r4d) grant. His research interests include food systems, research for development, insect for animal feed, organic resources for soil enhancement, and West Africa.

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Publié-e

2024-05-01

Numéro

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2024)

Rubrique

Papers

Licence

(c) Tous droits réservés Fernando Sousa, Claudia Zingerli, Charles Pomalegni 2024

Licence Creative Commons

Cette œuvre est sous licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Partage dans les Mêmes Conditions 4.0 International.

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