Third party funded individual grant
Acronym: HARVEST
Start date : 01.07.2025
End date : 30.11.2025
Projekt initiation phase for the development of a full proposal
Cities
in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are undergoing exceptionally dynamic
processes of change and are therefore confronted with a variety of
contradictory phenomena that undermine efforts to achieve the NUA goals and the
SDGs, SDG 2 'Zero Hunger' in particular. The cumulative and cascading effects
of rapid population growth, weak institutional capacities and increasing demand
for land, services and housing are leading to significant declines in green
space and ecosystem services, disruption of biodiversity and diminishing access
for urban dwellers to secure food, water, and income-generating opportunities.
This has an increasing impact on sustainable development, food security and
nutrition in urban and peri-urban areas, as well as in nearby rural areas. To
asses these challenges, our project aims to explore the conditions for
strengthening local food systems and realising the full potential of
territorial markets for improved food security, food quality, opportunities and
employment through place-based, collaborative research in cities in
Arusha/Tanzania and the Kathmandu Valley/Nepal.
Both
urban areas are characterised by large populations, unplanned urban expansion
and growing inequality, with very close food security links to the peri-urban
region and the surrounding area. In consideration of their historical
development pathways and their spatial, ecological, political, and social
configurations, however, the case studies represent disparate yet distinctive
initial conditions in which specific food systems are embedded. Recurrent
crises and disasters, as for example the 2015 earthquake in Nepal or persistent
drought in East Africa, have highlighted the vulnerability of conventional food
systems. Focusing on the mobilisation of so-called 'alternative food networks',
e.g. edible gardens, contract farming, or pop-up farmers’ markets, we seek to
understand the enabling conditions under which the full potential of
territorial markets in both case studies can be unlocked, the challenges and
knowledge gaps that hinder agroeconomic transformation, and the conditions
under which it can be successfully pursued. We aim to identify key factors for
the emergence and development of social innovation processes that lead to new
forms of organisation among food sector actors, different relationships and
novel ways of interacting between producers and consumers, and have the
potential to increase both the effectiveness of AFNs and contribute to
sustainable and socially just food security in Arusha/Tanzania and Kathmandu
Valley/Nepal.
The
project aims to generate much-needed knowledge for evidence-based policy-making
through applied research, and to find viable, sustainable solutions to food and
livelihood security challenges under conditions of uncertainty and crisis.
Implementation potential of the project results will be promoted by a
transdisciplinary research process through co-creation of knowledge as well as
horizontal and vertical knowledge sharing.