Watermelon production is growing in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region, especially at the Koga Irrigation Scheme. However, agronomic practices like sowing dates and vine management are underexplored, limiting yield and profitability. Identifying the optimal planting date and vine number is crucial for enhancing growth, productivity, and economic returns. 

A field experiment during the 2021-2022 irrigation season evaluated the growth and yield of watermelon under different sowing dates and vine management strategies. Watermelon sown in the second week of January produced superior results compared to November or December sowing. January planting led to earlier harvesting, longer vines, higher leaf area index, more fruits per plant, heavier and more marketable fruits, and a higher proportion of icebox-sized fruits. 
Plants maintained with three vines per plant recorded the best performance, including the longest vines, highest leaf area index, most fruits per plant, and highest marketable fruit yield (yield: 42.2 t/ha). The combination of January planting and three-vine pruning resulted in the highest net benefit and acceptable marginal rate of return (>100%). 

Optimizing planting dates and vine numbers can improve yields, fruit quality, and economic gains for watermelon growers in Amhara Region. Adopting January planting, implementing three-vine pruning, extending these practices to similar agro-ecologies, and training farmers on effective sowing schedules and vine management are recommended. 

Malnutrition, including stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies, is a major challenge in Uganda's Kabarole district and Fort Portal City. Despite the presence of Village Health Teams (VHTs) as community health workers, gaps in functionality, irregular training, and limited supervision hinder their effectiveness. This creates missed opportunities to strengthen community health systems and improve access to nutrition services for vulnerable populations, including children under five and pregnant women. 
The VHT program, established in 2001, serves as a bridge between communities and health services. The HealthyFoodAfrica project has strengthened VHT structures by equipping them with tools, training, and methodologies for effective nutrition assessments, counseling, and community health interventions. Training programs emphasize skills like using anthropometric methods to improve community engagement. Integration of Maternal, Infant, Young Child, and Adolescent Nutrition guidelines ensures comprehensive nutrition support. VHTs play a critical role in finding malnutrition cases, promoting kitchen gardens for food security, and conducting sanitation campaigns. They follow up on pregnant women and children under five to prevent malnutrition relapse and support health monitoring. 

Enhanced VHT engagement has improved health and nutrition outcomes, increasing access to health services, promoting household food security, improving sanitation, and strengthening referral systems. Recommendations for future success include regular training and mentorship, improving incentives, enhancing supervision and reporting, and developing community engagement plans.

Traditional aquaculture faces challenges in urban areas due to limited space, water constraints, and contamination risks. Tarpaulin tanks offer a cost-effective solution for controlled, sustainable, and profitable African catfish production. 
The HealthyFoodAfrica project promotes tarpaulin tank aquaculture, integrating sustainable water management, reducing costs, and ensuring high fish yields. Tarpaulin tanks, made from durable materials, allow controlled aquaculture in small spaces, yielding 1.2–1.6 tons of catfish per 4-to-5-month cycle with survival rates of 68–82%. 
Innovative technologies include the Recirculatory Aquaculture System, which recycles tank effluent, conserving water and reducing disease risks. Integrated Agriculture-Aquaculture uses fish tank effluent for irrigation, producing fish and crops simultaneously. Aquaponics combines fish farming and soilless crop cultivation, where plants filter water for reuse in fish tanks. 
Stocking about 1,000 catfish fingerlings per tank, fed with commercial feed, yielded a 22–30% return on operational costs per cycle. Effective marketing strategies enhanced financial returns, especially in urban areas. Water-conservation technologies minimize waste and contamination, while effluent management and biosecurity practices enhance sustainability. 
The tarpaulin tank system optimizes space, conserves water and is economically sustainable with high yields and low costs. It is scalable and portable, allowing for expansion or relocation. Recommendations include adopting tarpaulin tanks, integrating water-use technologies, ensuring biosecurity, building market linkages, and scaling the methods to other urban areas. 

Urbanization in Kenya has increased population density and competition for land, limiting space for agriculture. The rapid increase in Kenya’s urban population has intensified food access challenges. In Kisumu, residents face malnutrition and limited fresh vegetables. Urban gardening is a solution, but adoption requires community-centered approaches to overcome barriers like lack of skills and resources. In HealthyFoodAfrica, the “ambassador model” was launched to combine community dialogue, capacity building, and peer-led training to promote urban gardening in Kisumu’s informal settlements.  Community dialogue sessions identified malnutrition and limited vegetable availability as key issues. 52 Community Health Promoters and 144 Home Gardening Ambassadors were trained in urban farming techniques. Six community urban gardening centers were established for hands-on learning and demonstration of technologies like vertical, sack, and tin gardens. Each Ambassador trained 6 additional households, expanding urban gardening practices. Local vegetable seeds were distributed, yielding about 3 kg of vegetables over 3 months. 

The ambassador model improved food security and nutrition in Kisumu by enhancing access to self-produced vegetables. Over 374 households adopted urban gardening, improving dietary diversity and nutriion. The model ensured skill transfer, community ownership, and sustainability. Expanding the ambassador model to other areas, strengthening local seed banks, integrating government support, and monitoring outcomes are recommended for future success.

In Benin and Ghana, improving school meal quality is challenging due to limited access to fresh produce. The HealthyFoodAfrica project has implemented school gardens to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for canteens, improving nutrition and serving as educational spaces for sustainable agriculture. School gardens involved students, parents, teachers, and local experts to ensure long-term viability and strengthen local food systems. 
A participatory approach has been used, with stakeholders collaborating on garden design, management, and implementation. Schools were selected based on criteria like arable land, water sources, and community motivation.  
Gardens focus on organic practices, avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Students participate in daily activities like planting, watering, and composting, learning sustainable farming methods and biodiversity. 
School gardens enhance education, nutrition, and community engagement. Fresh produce improves meal quality, contributing to better health. The initiative builds agricultural skills and environmental awareness, empowering students as sustainability advocates. Gardens also function as living classrooms, applying scientific concepts practically. 
Community involvement is key, fostering social cohesion and shared responsibility. Gardens contribute to local food security. Expanding school gardens, integrating gardening and nutrition education into curricula, mobilizing communities, and ensuring regular maintenance are recommended for future success.  

Aquaculture, especially Nile tilapia farming, is key to Ghana’s food system strategies, addressing protein demand sustainably. However, up to 45 % of tilapia becomes waste, highlighting the need for better utilization to enhance sustainability and reduce inefficiencies. 
A study by HealthyFoodAfrica revealed that tilapia waste constitutes a significant portion of the fish’s weight. Consumer preferences also influence waste levels, with fried tilapia being the most preferred and resulting in less waste compared to boiled or grilled preparations. The study identified opportunities for waste utilization: offal and fins can be processed into fish meal or livestock feed, scales and skin for collagen extraction, and bones and heads into organic fertilizers. These findings show potential for economic gains and environmental sustainability by reducing waste and promoting reuse. 
Utilizing waste can generate secondary revenue streams through fish meal, feed, and bioproducts, minimize environmental pollution, and improve food security by maximizing the utility of fish components. 
Recommendations for future success include developing systems to process and sell tilapia parts based on consumer preferences, innovating products using traditionally inedible parts, promoting awareness of nutritional benefits, and incentivizing businesses to invest in waste utilization technologies like fishmeal production and composting systems. 

The Rwamwanja refugee settlement faces challenges in accessing nutritious foods due to limited land (0.037 acres per household) and reliance on staple crops. The HealthyFoodAfrica project introduced kitchen gardening to optimize land use and improve nutrition. Using a Community-Based Extension approach, 10 Village Enterprise Agents facilitated vegetable production among refugees and host community households through training, seed distribution, and demo plots.
Village Enterprise Agents trained 36 participant groups on vegetable agronomy, organic fertilizer, and pesticide preparation. Various vegetable seeds were distributed, with each household receiving at least four species. Central nursery beds and 72 demo plots were created for skills transfer and peer learning. Focus was on traditional and adaptable vegetables like African small white eggplants, spinach, sukuma wiki, amaranthus, and pumpkins. 
The project reached 1,000 households, with 815 sustaining gardens 18 months later. Outcomes included enhanced dietary diversity, improved nutrition, community resilience, and skill transfer. Households maintained gardens with three or more vegetable species, increasing vegetable consumption and improving health. 
Recommendations: expand training programs, ensure regular seed access, promote inclusive participation, and leverage demo plots for innovation and community outreach. 

Green leafy rape (Brassica napus L) is vital for nutrition, food security, and livelihoods in Zambia. However, its supply chain suffers from significant quality and physical losses, undermining economic returns and food availability. 
A study by HealthyFoodAfrica examined food loss in the Chongwe-to-Lusaka supply chain, focusing on harvesting, on-farm storage, transportation, and trading. Data revealed a 6.4% mean physical loss during harvesting, with 76% of farmers affected. Minor losses occurred during on-farm storage and transportation (1.1% and 0.97%, respectively). Significant quality losses (27.8% on average) were reported during trading, with 91.5% of traders noting reduced visual or sensory quality. A high discard rate (16.1%) during trading due to poor quality impacted economic returns and food availability. Critical loss points were identified at the harvesting and trading stages. 
Adopting loss-reduction measures can improve profitability for farmers and traders, increase food availability, and enhance supply chain sustainability. Recommendations for future success include training farmers in better handling and harvesting techniques, investing in infrastructure and packaging to minimize damage during storage and transport, educating market traders on loss-reduction strategies, and engaging government and stakeholders to implement targeted interventions at critical loss points. 

Postharvest practices are crucial for reducing losses of green leafy vegetables like rape (Brassica napus L), which are vital for food security, nutrition, and livelihoods. In Zambia, these vegetables are produced in rural areas and transported to urban markets. Inadequate practices lead to significant quality and physical losses. 
A study on the supply chain from Chongwe district to Lusaka city revealed several issues. Most farmers harvest manually and pile leaves in the field, causing initial quality deterioration. Few use rigid receptacles, risking physical damage. Around 44 % of farmers load vegetables directly onto transport vessels after harvesting, while others store them for up to 12 hours in unsuitable conditions without cooling. Open trucks are widely used, resulting in compression and mechanical damage. Traders often sort and grade leaves upon arrival at markets, sprinkling water to ensure freshness but lacking proper storage facilities, which affects quality and reduces sale prices. 
Improving postharvest practices can reduce leaf damage and preserve quality. Innovations in cooling or humidity control can extend shelf life, minimizing losses. Enhanced packaging and transport methods can prevent mechanical damage. Incentives for quality grading can increase market value, benefiting farmers and traders. 
Recommendations for future success include designing low-cost cooling technologies, promoting rigid harvesting receptacles, implementing grading systems for green leafy vegetables, and innovating tailored transportation vessels and packaging solutions to minimize damage during transit. 

In Ethiopia's Mecha District, fish farming is underdeveloped due to limited knowledge and access to quality fish seed. The Koga Irrigation Scheme, with its 20 small reservoirs and one main dam reservoir, offers significant potential for fish production. A study by HealthyFoodAfrica assessed farmers' experiences and explored sustainable fish culture using Hapa technology. 
A training program was provided to 27 fish farmers on Hapa-based tilapia seed production and grow-out culture, covering reproduction, feeding, stocking, and sorting of tilapia. Hapa nets were installed in night reservoirs, and brood fish (40 females and 20 males) were stocked, producing approximately 12,000 tilapia fingerlings. About 10,000 fingerlings were supplied to a farmer with a quarry pond, where they grew to an average weight of over 230 grams. 
In another trial, mono-sex male tilapia fingerlings were transferred to the main dam reservoir, showing strong performance with a mean length of 16.85 cm, weight of 81.71 grams, and a growth rate of 3.98 g/day. The condition factor was greater than 1, indicating good fish health. Water quality inside the Hapa nets remained optimal for fish growth. 
Hapa technology enabled sustainable fish production, offering economic opportunities and promoting youth involvement in aquaculture. The focus on Nile tilapia provides a nutritious food source, addressing local dietary needs. Expanding Hapa technology, increasing farmer education, supporting youth engagement, and improving seed accessibility are recommended to enhance fish farming practices. 

The production of high-quality rhizobia inoculants (biofertilizers) for field application is crucial to enhance biomass production and yields of grain-legumes and also to improve soil health, resilience, and sustainable food production systems.In biological nitrogen fixation, legume plants in symbioses with special soil bacteria (rhizobia) convert atmospheric nitrogen (N) into plant nutrient, by which legumes can be self-sufficient in N nutrient requirements.Grain-legumes production or intercropped with non-legumes with the application of rhizobia inoculants are being conducted by the food systems labs at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia, Rwamwanja and Fort Portal in Uganda, and Tamale in Ghana. High-quality inoculants for beans and soybeans are produced from pre-selected, characterized and tested elite rhizobia strains.The University of Helsinki has trained experts and lab technicians on production of high-quality rhizobia inoculants. In Bahir Dar, the first-year field performance of the beans with rhizobia inoculants was impressive. The surrounding farmers were invited to visit and learn the performance of the beans receiving rhizobia inoculants, which increased interests about the technology among the farmers.In Tamale, soybean inoculants are used. Farmers obtained better harvest from soybeans that received rhizobia.In Rwamwanja, we want to diversify food production by integrating legumes with rhizobia inoculation. For this growing season, common bean inoculants are being produced. Before planting, trainings on the use and application of rhizobia inoculants will be given to the local agricultural experts and selected farmers.

Vegetables are an important part of diet particularly for children who are still growing and need foods that provide essential nutrition for their growth and development. The HealthyFoodAfrica project's Food System Lab in Tamale aims to promote the consumption of vegetables in school feeding. This was done with the establishment of school vegetable gardens with both indigenous and exotic vegetables to be used in feeding school children in selected basic schools within Tamale Rural communities. Ten functioning school vegetable gardens were established in ten selected basic schools that are beneficiaries of the government of Ghana school feeding program within Tamale rural communities. It was found out that the gardens could provide enough vegetables for the school kitchen to use in feeding the children only during the rainy season because there is no water available to water the vegetables during the dry season. Also, the school feeding menu did not cover the use of some of the vegetables cultivated in the school vegetable gardens. Understanding the local circumstances is vital to enhance the cultivation and consumption of vegetables in schools to improve child nutrition.

Food industry development in Africa requires substantial modernization in thinking and implementation of practises. Global food industry is progressing in innovative and sustainable solutions. Meanwhile, projects in Africa are focusing on farming level solutions and export of ingredients. Africa has a unique position to create completely new food industry; learn from the mistakes done with current systems, and to implement the best learnings and practices from existing technologies. Significant changes in thinking, actions and funding targets needs to be implemented for agri-food sector development. Activities required for food industry and production development Food industry, processing and innovation capacity will not improve with current actions. Modern and updated activities would be crucial for improved food security, food safety, better nutrition, reduced food waste, locally manufactured product availability and increased biodiversity. It is not realistic to expect farming communities to process modern, high-tech food products, due to limited resources, skills, knowledge, and capacity. Food manufacturing and processing capacity needs to be improved significantly, and food industry actors from processing to academia needs to be exposed to modern, high-tech solutions to create new, suitable, and easy to use food products. The main practical recommendation There must be separate focus on the food industry development, with professional actors in manufacturing combined with research leading the change. This requires new thinking, actions and, even more crucially, funding to narrow the gap in the food processing capacity for Africa to process its own crops and plants for local consumption and export.

Women and youth constitute a large percentage of participants in food systems, and their involvement in food systems is key. Therefore, gender inclusiveness is a vital part of successful food systems improvement efforts. HealthyFoodAfrica (HFA) project aims to contribute to the formation of more sustainable, equitable and resilient value chains and food systems, especially for disadvantaged groups. The project recognises the challenges women, youth and other disadvantaged groups face. These challenges range from limited access to agricultural inputs, land, agricultural extension services, credit and markets. Efficient integration of gender into projects requires that gender inclusiveness is implemented both at project level and at implementation. For HFA, gender surveys have been conducted to map and identify gender knowledge gaps, and interests; gender training has been carried out among partners; roundtable discussions have been undertaken to map gender related challenges and opportunities. HFA project has further developed a gender proofing strategy which Is a living document that is updated periodically. HFA has also developed gender indicators that serve as a guide to keep every project partner on track. Gender responsiveness in a project requires thoughtful planning on how anticipated outputs and outcomes will affect women and men differently. Gender responsiveness should, at its core, facilitate the equitable achievement of project benefits for both men and women and other vulnerable groups. In HFA, gender has been integrated right from project setup of its staff, at data collection, data analysis and reporting. Gender is also a big component in new designed interventions such as pilot actions.

Consumption of poor diets is still evident in many developing countries, especially among low-income consumers. The Kisumu Food System Lab in Kenya, under the HealthyFoodAfrica project, is working with food system stakeholders to improve diets of the people in the informal settlements of urban Kisumu. Urban gardens are often promoted to make nutritious foods available, accessible, and affordable to the people. This project uses innovative approaches to ensure urban gardens lead to improved diets in a sustainable way. First, we use a bottom-up approach of engaging the community in identifying diet-related problems and solutions using community Action Plans. Second, after identifying different types of urban gardens, the project's technical experts guide residents to select the type of garden that best suit them based on space, their nutrient value & preference. Together they discuss best types of vegetables to produce. Third, the project works with the Kisumu County to support agricultural activities e.g. best agricultural practices, pest & disease control, and water usage. Given that availability and access to nutritious foods does not always guarantee consumption, the project is working with the ministry of health and nutrition county officials to disseminate nutrition information to the target beneficiaries so that they can consume more of the vegetables as they produce them in their urban gardens. We expect these interventions to lead to improved diet diversity for the target women, children, youth and men. Since the activities are implemented collaboratively with the county and beneficiaries, the approach & findings can be used to set up similar interventions in other informal settlements within the county and beyond.

To meet economic and population expansion difficulties due to rising urbanization, it is crucial to develop sustainable, inclusive, and nutritious food products and business structures. Many actors in the food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have great ideas on how to tackle their specific needs to increase food security and nutrition through novel food products and local initiatives. To support this, a training kit (T-Kit) was developed, and a summer school organized as part of the HFA project. The T-Kit was designed to be used during the ‘1st Summer School on innovative food products, processes and agri-business models in SSA’. Two of the objectives of the T-Kit were: 1) to illustrate the potential of innovative, nutritious, and locally based products, and 2) to enhance capacity of actors to develop food innovations. The T-Kit can be used by trainees for reviewing the subject areas even after the training. It is a handbook for different kinds of vocational and tertiary education, entrepreneurs, etc in SSA context. In total, 39 participants made up of 23 women and 16 men from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia took part in the online summer school from the 4th to the 8th of July 2022. There were 4 sessions based on; sustainability, sustainability of food systems, innovation of business models, and life cycle thinking for sustainable products. Participants mentioned fish processing, networking and innovation as key words they took the most from the summer school.

Food environments describe where people choose which food to purchase, prepare, cook, and eat and they can both constrain and prompt consumer food choices, hence affecting diet quality. The presence of healthy foods and food outlets is associated with better diet quality thus better health outcomes. Similarly, presence of unhealthy foods and food outlets expose consumers to an unhealthy food environment associated with increased risks of health and nutrition related complications. A food environment study was conducted by HeathyFoodAfrica's Kisumu Food System Lab in 4 informal settlements to better understand the foods available to consumers. All vendors were mapped to understand the vendor options consumers have with a sub-sample of vendors being re-visited to further assess which foods were offered to which price. Food safety and food promotion and advertisement aspects were also documented. A total of 2927 vendors were assessed and plotted on a map. We found a least 10 vendor types ranging from street food vendor with 1-3 food types on offer, to open air markets with different food stalls and supermarkets with a large range of packaged foods. One formal market and one main informal market were found to serve consumers. The findings provide an understanding of the current food environment of the consumers in the Kisumu Food System Lab. This is crucial for the project where we respond to: 1) How can we improve the food environment? and 2) What are the prevailing challenges for improvement? Findings will also be used to describe options for change to improve consumers’ diets. The collected information is essential for designing the next steps to enhance consumer awareness and behaviour change towards healthier food choices and diverse diets.

Integrating nutrition education into food system interventions can improve consumer diets if materials are locally adapted. HealthyFoodAfrica project conducted a 2-day workshop to develop materials for nutrition education in Kisumu Food System Lab. Participants were stakeholders from the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, development partners, local NGOs and community-based organizations of Kisumu County. The objective was to look into nutrition education as a strategy in Kisumu and identify gaps and opportunities for planned nutrition education interventions. The food and nutrition security situation, including dietary diversity in Kisumu and the project sites was presented. To make the workshop participatory, World Café, brainstorm, plenary etc methods were used to 1) discuss nutrition education as a strategy in Kisumu, 2) identify issues/gaps to be addressed by nutrition education, and 3) identify target audience and lessons learnt. Twenty six nutrition education materials used in Kisumu were reviewed in different expert groups to see if they addressed the nutrition issues/gaps identified and their applicability in project areas. Missing topics and areas of improvement were identified. The materials were ranked based on a criteria (reach, cost, actionability, clarity & simplicity). Appropriate mediums and channels for nutrition messaging in the project sites were also identified. Slogans to address message gaps/issues identified were co-created. The participants voted for the best slogan "LISHE BORA - MAZIWA YA MAMA YA BAMBA!." which means, "GOOD NUTRITION - BREAST MILK IS BEST!". Stakeholder involvement in the materials development process ensures quality materials that meet the needs of all end users.

The CSIR-Water Research Institute, Ghana, implementing the HealthyFoodAfrica project’s objectives, conducted a baseline fish farms survey in Accra Food System Lab covering Greater Accra Region and Asuogyaman District. Interviews were conducted in 2021, using computer-assisted personal interviewing to assess households and practices of fish farmers and their production sustainability. Male fish farmers dominated (96.4%) over females (3.6%). Middle aged farmers (35–49 yrs) were more (52.8%), while youth (18–34 yrs) were least (18.2%). 51% had more than 5 dependants. Over 75% households consumed fish daily. Majority of farmers (72%) produced fish commercially, others for home consumption or recreation. Fish cultured were mainly Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African catfish (Clarias gariepoinus). 11% of farmers cultured other fish species. Water resources used for fish farming ranged from natural water bodies to tap water. About 50% of fish farmers had marketing constraints due to unavailability of markets or poor connectivity to traders. This is a disincentive to existing and potential farmers. Further improvement towards resilient fish production is needed for healthy diets and food systems. Improvement ways include: * Attraction of more women and youth participation, through sensitizations, trainings and policy dialogues with respective stakeholders * Reducing cost of production * Water management strategies * ICT tools for market connectivity. These interventions will enhance investments in fish production, economic empowerment, nutrition security and overall resilience in food production systems.

The HealthyFoodAfrica project aims to improve the nutrition of school children. The project's Food System Lab in Benin analyzed food availability in primary schools using Food Group Score (FGS) based on the number of food groups available within primary schools in one hand and food quality and safety using the Summary Hygiene Index (SHI) based on hygiene and sanitary practices in the other hand. This will show evidence for improving and help to better design a nutrition intervention targeting school food environment and schoolchildren feeding practices. Methods: Twelve public primary schools with canteens were randomly selected. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire administered to cookers and observation within schools. Fifteen food groups were considered to determine the FGS and the median FGS was 8. The median SHI was 7 out of 15 best practices considered. Scores were compared among urban and peri-urban areas. Results: Cereals, legumes/nuts/seeds followed by sweet foods and drinks were the most represented food groups available in all schools. Food groups which are good source of micronutrients such as fruits and vegetables are poorly represented. Food supply appeared to be limited (FGS< 8) in nine schools out of twelve, and peri-urban zone had higher FGS than urban zone. Overall, eight schools out of the twelve have a SHI higher than the median score, and the urban zone have a higher SHI compared to peri-urban (p = 0.01569). Conclusion: Nutrition education program targeting hygiene and sanitary practices and strategies for improving food supply diversity such as establishment of school gardens are needed to develop healthy food environment around school.