Food and Local, Agricultural and Nutritional Diversity (FoodLAND) Project

HELVETAS Tanzania has joined an international research initiative which brings together 28 interdisciplinary partners to boost the nutrition performance of local food systems in Africa. The project FoodLAND – Food and Local, Agricultural and Nutritional Diversity is committed to developing a range of innovations for local agriculture and aquaculture development, as well as to nudging consumers towards healthier eating behaviour in six African countries: Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The overall project is aiming to strengthen agro-biodiversity and food diversity, along with diversity of healthy diets to combat the major forms of malnutrition in Africa.

FoodLAND will create a network of 14 local Food Hubs that will mobilise relevant actors in rural, urban and peri-urban communities and serve as injection points for testing and introducing the innovations.

HELVETAS Tanzania is involved in the two Food Hubs of Mvomero and Kilombero in Morogoro region, where it supports the Sokoine University of Agriculture, the main FoodLAND research agency in Tanzania, in the development, implementation and validation of various technological innovations. With its focus on interactions with farming communities, HELVETAS participates in field studies involving food producers and consumers and contributes to the testing of research findings and the application of innovation.