Smallholder dominated agrifood systems in sub-Sahara Africa, like other developing regions are at a transformative crossroad shaped by multiple, interacting social, environmental, and economic challenges. These include persisting food and nutrition insecurity coupled with food waste and loss, effects of climate change induced extreme weather, biodiversity loss, global threats like conflict and economic crises that have exposed the vulnerability of these food systems.

To support agrifood system transformation to simultaneously addresses these challenges requires coupling technological, social, and institutional dimensions. While the agricultural innovation systems lens has been applied to interrogate and guide food systems innovation, persistent and emerging challenges calls for a rethink.  Considering the urgency to transform food systems, we reflect on how a mission orientation perspective orientation (Mazzucato, 2018, Klerkx and Begemann, 2020) offers new insights to shape innovation processes. We apply this to the problem of food loss and waste in the Kenyan context, anchoring it on the ongoing initiative under the African Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Cooling (ACES) to system innovate sustainable cooling and cold chain to smallholder farming system in a warming world.

Speaker

Dr. Catherine Kilelu, Director, Communication, Outreach and Partnerships at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS).  Dr. Kilelu received a PhD in Social Sciences from Wageningen University with her thesis focusing on the role of innovation support for inclusive smallholder commercialization. She has vast experience in Research for Development, having worked at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and as a Consultant.

Her research interests are in agri-food systems innovation and transitions mainly in sub-Saharan Africa linked to sustainability, competitiveness, employment creation and resilient livelihoods and on circular bio-economy. Dr. Kilelu has numerous publications in international peer reviewed journals and book chapters related to these themes.