Opportunities for higher education institutions to develop sustainable food systems in Africa

dc.contributor.authorPretorius, Beulah
dc.contributor.authorSchonfeldt, H.C. (Hettie Carina)
dc.contributor.emailbeulah.pretorius@up.ac.zaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-27T10:11:02Z
dc.date.available2024-06-27T10:11:02Z
dc.date.issued2023-06-15
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below:https://summitdialogues. org/dialogue/4137.en_US
dc.description.abstractAn African Vice-Chancellors’ Regional Food Systems Dialogue was hosted with the aim to provide a multi-stakeholder platform for stakeholders to explore various existing and emerging approaches that have the potential to deliver sustainable solutions at scale and encourage collaborative actions to directly transform Africa’s agriculture and food systems. Various food system experts and leaders from policy research institutions, universities, and other stakeholders participated. A lack of coherent linkages among stakeholders, youth restlessness, and silos within and between higher education institutions were some of the challenges identified to hindering the much needed transformation. Poor links with ministries and political red tape, inadequate programme funding and capital for coping with rising input costs, as well as unsustainable resource mobilization were also reported as having a negative effect. To address these, stakeholders must embrace collaboration and transdisciplinary practices, mobilize resources, and harness partnerships for greater leverage. In addition, a systems-thinking approach to dealing with complex issues should be adopted, while partners co-design and co-create research initiatives. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Big Data were identified as key enablers that can ensure relevant research with appropriate translation into practice while maintaining quality and excellence. This research—together with society-relevant curriculums with emphasis on agricultural sciences and practical on-farm skills—must inform policies and practice. Higher education institutions must be committed to driving the sustainable food system transformation agenda in partnership with other stakeholders. Institutions must be at the forefront of reimagining the sector’s role when it comes to transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation aimed at strengthening the continent’s agro-food systems.en_US
dc.description.departmentAnimal and Wildlife Sciencesen_US
dc.description.librarianam2024en_US
dc.description.sdgSDG-02:Zero Hungeren_US
dc.description.sdgSDG-04:Quality Educationen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipGCRF/UKRI and the Department of Science and Technology (DST)/National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChl) in the National Development Plan Priority Area of Nutrition and Food Security,en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systemsen_US
dc.identifier.citationPretorius, B. & Schönfeldt, H.C. (2023) Opportunities for higher education institutions to develop sustainable food systems in Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7:1147115. DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1147115.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2571-581X (online)
dc.identifier.other10.3389/fsufs.2023.1147115
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/96703
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dc.rights© 2023 Pretorius and Schönfeldt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).en_US
dc.subjectHigher educationen_US
dc.subjectTransdisciplinary researchen_US
dc.subjectAgricultureen_US
dc.subjectPartnerships and collaborationsen_US
dc.subjectSustainable food system (SFS)en_US
dc.subjectSDG-02: Zero hungeren_US
dc.subjectSDG-04: Quality educationen_US
dc.titleOpportunities for higher education institutions to develop sustainable food systems in Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Pretorius_Opportunities_2023.pdf
Size:
116.77 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: