From June of 2017 through May of 2021, SFHC is partnering with 16 institutions in the ambitious InnovAfrica project that is funded under the European Union (EU) Africa Research and Innovation Partnership. A partnership between EU and the African Union aims at using innovative and integrated approaches to improve food and nutrition security for African smallholders through climate adaptability. The main objective of InnovAfrica is to improve food and nutrition security by integrating sustainable agriculture intensification systems (SAI), innovative institutional approaches with novel extension and advisory services and enhancing smallholder adaptive capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa. InnovAfrica will test, integrate, and disseminate SAI systems suitable to smallholders, institutional approaches e.g. multi-actor platforms (MAPs), seed delivery systems and extension and advisory services e.g. dynamic knowledge platforms supported by smart phones, and Village Knowledge Canters.
The main outcomes of InnovAfrica include:
i) Better understanding of the needs and
opportunities of SAI systems in Africa.
ii) Improved knowledge and innovation
capacity of farmers to implement SAI systems supported by innovative
institutional approaches and extension advisory services.
iii) Improved product value chains through
viable innovative institutional approaches benefiting women and youth.
iv) Innovative policies, increased knowledge of public private partnerships to strengthen agri- business model in case countries with a view to up-scaling successes in other regions through functional MAPs
v) Wider dissemination of SAI systems to
smallholders and women within and outside project areas through effective use
of smart phones and social media.
vi) Stronger EU-Africa Research and Innovation
Partnership to achieve food and nutrition security.
In Malawi, the farmers in Kacheche area in
Ekwendeni, Mzimba, and Thambolagwa area in Lobi, Dedza, are sharing indigenous
knowledge of locally grown crops. Farmers use legume intercrops as a means of crop
production intensification, intercropping cereals like maize, sorghum and
millet, with legumes like beans, soy bean, ground nuts, pigeon peas and green
gram. Farmers report their experience back to the project team.
The SFHC team is also supporting Chipulikano, Kapilimhoto and Chitemwano youth groups as they interact with the InnovAfrica project. In November of 2018, SFHC brought all three youth groups together to provide training on group dynamics and democratic leadership, guiding them to elect a committee to lead future InnovAfrica activities.
This project has received funding from the European Union H2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 727201
Lizzie Shumba joined SFHC in 2003 and since then has contributed much to our efforts and to the success of SFHC. The Agroecology and Livelihood Collaborative (ALC) from the University of Vermont conducted an interview with Lizzie to… Read More
The SFHC team and the communities we work with play a crucial role in helping us reach our goals of promoting sustainability, health, and equity, so we love to share the voices of the wonderful people that make… Read More
Exciting news: new research from our SFHC team has just been published! This research is centered around examining crop diversity and its effect on food security and women’s diet quality through an intervention in Malawi. As always, we… Read More
We are proud to share new research from our team within the last year! Both works come from our FARMS for Biodiversity Project, and they include a research approach to transdisciplinary agroecology and an assessment of local views… Read More
InnovAfrica
The Innovations in Technology, Institutional and Extension Approaches towards Sustainable Agriculture and Enhanced Food and Nutritional Security in Africa (InnovAfrica) Project
From June of 2017 through May of 2021, SFHC is partnering with 16 institutions in the ambitious InnovAfrica project that is funded under the European Union (EU) Africa Research and Innovation Partnership. A partnership between EU and the African Union aims at using innovative and integrated approaches to improve food and nutrition security for African smallholders through climate adaptability. The main objective of InnovAfrica is to improve food and nutrition security by integrating sustainable agriculture intensification systems (SAI), innovative institutional approaches with novel extension and advisory services and enhancing smallholder adaptive capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa. InnovAfrica will test, integrate, and disseminate SAI systems suitable to smallholders, institutional approaches e.g. multi-actor platforms (MAPs), seed delivery systems and extension and advisory services e.g. dynamic knowledge platforms supported by smart phones, and Village Knowledge Canters.
The main outcomes of InnovAfrica include:
i) Better understanding of the needs and opportunities of SAI systems in Africa.
ii) Improved knowledge and innovation capacity of farmers to implement SAI systems supported by innovative institutional approaches and extension advisory services.
iii) Improved product value chains through viable innovative institutional approaches benefiting women and youth.
iv) Innovative policies, increased knowledge of public private partnerships to strengthen agri- business model in case countries with a view to up-scaling successes in other regions through functional MAPs
v) Wider dissemination of SAI systems to smallholders and women within and outside project areas through effective use of smart phones and social media.
vi) Stronger EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership to achieve food and nutrition security.
In Malawi, the farmers in Kacheche area in Ekwendeni, Mzimba, and Thambolagwa area in Lobi, Dedza, are sharing indigenous knowledge of locally grown crops. Farmers use legume intercrops as a means of crop production intensification, intercropping cereals like maize, sorghum and millet, with legumes like beans, soy bean, ground nuts, pigeon peas and green gram. Farmers report their experience back to the project team.
The SFHC team is also supporting Chipulikano, Kapilimhoto and Chitemwano youth groups as they interact with the InnovAfrica project. In November of 2018, SFHC brought all three youth groups together to provide training on group dynamics and democratic leadership, guiding them to elect a committee to lead future InnovAfrica activities.
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An interview with SFHC’s Lizzie Shumba!
October 20, 2022
By Nicole Velecela
Lizzie Shumba joined SFHC in 2003 and since then has contributed much to our efforts and to the success of SFHC. The Agroecology and Livelihood Collaborative (ALC) from the University of Vermont conducted an interview with Lizzie to… Read More
Take a look into SFHC’s work!
October 20, 2022
By Nicole Velecela
The SFHC team and the communities we work with play a crucial role in helping us reach our goals of promoting sustainability, health, and equity, so we love to share the voices of the wonderful people that make… Read More
New Research Paper: Sept. 2022
September 28, 2022
By Nicole Velecela
Exciting news: new research from our SFHC team has just been published! This research is centered around examining crop diversity and its effect on food security and women’s diet quality through an intervention in Malawi. As always, we… Read More
2 New Research Papers: 2022
September 23, 2022
By Nicole Velecela
We are proud to share new research from our team within the last year! Both works come from our FARMS for Biodiversity Project, and they include a research approach to transdisciplinary agroecology and an assessment of local views… Read More