Rapid assessment study on the contribution of agroecology to nutrition and food security in africa using systems thinking and modelling workshop held in nairobi, kenya

July 20, 2023
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Biovision Africa Trust has rolled out the project titled ‘Agroecology for Increased Nutrition and Food Security in Eastern Africa (ANFEA Project) funded by U.S. Mission to The African Union (USAU). The project is running for 1 year up to end of 2023. BvAT is undertaking this project with Millennium Institute based in New York.

One of the key activities that serves as a back born for this project is to Commission a rapid assessment study (baseline) on the contribution of agroecology on nutrition and food security in Africa.

The study will be centered around Systems thinking modeling for acceleration of agroecology adoption with Millennium Institute taking lead. The process will involve stakeholder participation to provide data on agroecology and support in the systems thinking modelling.

To kick off this process, on 18th July 2023, Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) under the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I) organized a one-day workshop at the ICIPE Campus, Kasarani Nairobi where BvAT’s offices are based. The workshop attracted 20 stakeholders from University of Nairobi ( Prof. Onwonga), BIBA ( Anne Maina), CSHEP, Consumer Grassroots Association, Pelum Kenya, Dr. Sarah Olembo of AU Continental Steering Committee, Biovision Africa Trust ( Dr. David Amudavi, Ms. Venacia Wambua and Mr. Alex Mutungi), Murang’a county desk of Agroecology, Ministry of Agriculture ( Ms. Grace Mugo), Steve Arquitt of Millenium Institute among others.

The primary objective of the workshop was to facilitate the exchange of ideas and perspectives on agroecology (AE) and its adoption, while engaging in a phase of participatory mental thinking modeling.
In his opening remarks, Dr. David Amudavi, the Executive Director of Biovision Africa Trust, emphasized the significance of identifying the role of Agroecology in contributing to food security and nutrition in the country. He acknowledged that food security has been a global concern and stressed that the workshop aimed to explore ways to ensure food security for communities.

The main objectives of the workshop were as follows:

Deepen understanding of agroecology and its pathways to contributing to nutrition and food security.
Discuss how to enhance farmer adoption of agroecology and pathways to scale.
Develop a causal loop diagram to demonstrate the important feedback loops responsible for observed performance in agroecology-based systems.
Derive data types on agroecology and its contribution to nutrition and food security.

Key areas that formed the discussions and data collection exercise were:

Understanding agroecology and its contribution to food nutrition and security
Resilience of agroecology versus external input (chemical) agriculture.
Identify policies, drivers, and constraints of farmer adoption of agroecology.
Generating a “mental model” of farmers becoming adopters of agroecology.
Agroecology vs agrochemical promotional strategies.

In conclusion, agroecology stands as a promising and sustainable approach to address food security, nutrition, and environmental challenges. By fostering awareness, providing technical support, and advocating for supportive policies, the adoption of agroecology can be scaled up to create resilient, nutritious, and sustainable food systems for present and future generations. Similar workshops to collect views of stakeholders from eastern Africa countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia will be undertaken by end of August.

Compiled by: Mercy Zakayo