On 15-17 September 2024, the FoodLAND partners Claudia Giordano (LUKE), Simone Piras (JHI), Luca Mulazzani and Valentino Marini Govigli (UNIBO) participated in the LX SIDEA Conference, organised by the Italian Society of Agricultural Economics in Anacapri, Italy.

At the conference, they organised a session dedicated to FoodLAND, entitled Agri-food systems and sustainable development in Africa, where our partners presented several results achieved in the project. From the premise that the adoption of innovations (technological, organisational, processual and social) can help African agri-food systems’ resilience and adaptation capacity, as well as make the most of their potential, this session aimed to bring together studies that explore the choices, preferences and behaviour of producers and consumers in African countries when faced with the introduction of innovations aimed at enhancing the productivity, sustainability and nutritional value of local supply chains. In fact, the initiatives promoted by FoodLAND were aimed not only at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of production methods but also at positively influencing food behaviour and consumer choices, through the introduction, in local markets, of products that are nutritionally richer and/or have a lower environmental impact.
nutritionally richer and/or with a lower environmental impact, and the dissemination of information to this effect.

Specifically, the topics discussed by the FoodLAND partners were as follows:

  • Simone Piras presented the results of his study on “smallholders’ food security between farming and migration. Evidence from five northern and eastern African countries”, based on the survey conducted with farmers in all countries apart from Ethiopia.
  • Luca Mulazzani’s presentation was about membership in farmers’ organizations and intention to innovate: a mixed random utility and behavioural approach.
  • The influence of social capital on the urban consumers’ propensity to include new local food products in their diet was discussed by Valentino Marini Govigli
  • Claudia Giordano offered insights on gender differences in adopting agricultural innovations: the case of five African countries., from a work made together with Atsede Ghidey Alemayehu.