The United Nations Food Systems Summit Science Days took place on the 8^th and 9^th July 2021, and Dr Elizabeth Mkandawire was one of three academics from the University of Pretoria who took part in the debates.

The Science Days took place over two days and were broken up into plenary and parallel sessions that addressed a variety of topics relating to food systems, science, technology and innovation, and policy and institutional innovations. The event kicked off with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Dr QU Dongyu, introducing the event and explaining how important it is that food systems are transformed if we are to achieve food security and nutrition. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, hunger and food insecurity follows, with access to healthy nutritious food being out of reach for millions of people. Fundamental transformation of the system to improve production, nutrition, the environment, and life for all requires action that is backed by science by all stakeholders. Many other speakers including Joachim von Braun who is the chair of the Scientific Group of the UN Food Systems Summit, and Amina J. Mohammed who is the UN Deputy Secretary-General and Moderator of the Summit Advisory Committee participated in the Science Days.

Dr Mkandawire, the Food Systems Research Network for Africa (FSNet-Africa) Network and Research Manager, joined the African Union Commissioner, Josefa Sako, as one of the four panellists that presented in the 5^th session of the Science Days- “Achieving the 2030 goals: opportunities, trade-offs, obstacles and synergies”. FSNet-Africa is a Research Excellence project funded by Global Challenges Research Fund. The project is one of the Flagship programmes of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems. FSNet-Africa aims to conduct research to inform how we can transform the African food system.

In the session, Dr Mkandawire presented solutions that focus on engagement with community leaders, promoting the agency of communities, and empowering communities to contribute to policy design. She also spoke about FSNet-Africa, an organisation that offers an innovative model for harnessing research partnerships that aim to drive research innovations concerning the African food system.

One of the projects that they have recently launched is the FSNet-Africa fellowship. Dr Mkandawire explains the fellowship as follows: “We have recruited 20 early career researchers who will develop research projects related to the African food system. We will use this research to understand the linkages in the food system and where we can leverage interventions to address food security and nutrition, health, poverty and other related food systems challenges.”

Dr Mkandawire is a strong advocate for the involvement of indigenous communities in the innovations that are still required to tackle food system transformation. For her, “Projects like FSNet-Africa that harness partnerships across sectors and tackle multiple challenges simultaneously need increased investment.” The fellowship has only just kicked off and we are excited to see the contributions that the fellows make in food system transformation, specifically in Africa.

The UNFSS Science Days is an integral part of the preparations taking place in the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit taking place later this year. The Science Days aimed at sharing robust science-based evidence and options to achieve more healthy diets while advocating for inclusivity and rationalization. While Dr Mkandawire took part in one of the plenary sessions that focused on achieving the 2030 SDG goals, other sessions covered topics ranging from investing in science and innovation and capitalizing on communication revolutions to engaging with key players in food system innovation such as the youth and women. Many interesting discussions were held, and they offered an intriguing look into some of the innovations that are already taking place across the world. They also offered a platform for sharing and learning, which continues to be an important step for achieving food system transformation.

To find out more about the FSNet-Africa fellowship and meet the fellows, you can watch this video. 

Recordings of all the UNFSS Science Day sessions are available online and you can access them here.