Food Systems Transformation in Southern Africa for One Health

Food Systems Transformation in Southern Africa for One Health (FoSTA-Health) will develop ambitious and inclusive visions of, and action plans for food systems transformation for achieving positive One Health outcomes in southern Africa.

The project is centered around four key transformation agendas: (1) transformations within and out of maize; (2) transformations of land use and irrigation; (3) transformations from domestic to export markets; and (4) diet diversification.

In relation to each, we will work with cross-system stakeholder groups (from government, industry, farmers, non-governmental organisations, and rural communities) and draw on evidence from case study contexts in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia to build an understanding of the complex system dynamics that link food systems transformation to diverse animal, environmental and human health outcomes.

A set of representative transformation pathways (RTPs) describing alternative plausible transformation futures, will be outlined, and novel integrated modelling tools used to collaboratively evaluate the potential these offer for delivering positive One Health outcomes.

This will be combined with a mapping and analysis of leverage points of food system transformation at local/landscape, national and regional government, and supply chain scales.

Action plans will be developed and capacities built for supporting action around leverage points at each of these scales.

Across FoSTA-Health particular attention will be paid to equity and justice in the visioning, governing and outcomes of transformative change.

Critical reflection on participation and power dynamics within the focal contexts of the project, and within the project itself, will be the basis for making recommendations and advocating for the equitable and inclusive governance of food systems transformation.