Supporting transformations to a more sustainable and equitable future: Insights from seeds of change in African food systems

This guidance note, published by the Global Resilience Partnership in December 2023, examines 24 marginal, small-scale initiatives termed "Seeds" within African food systems. The document analyzes how these initiatives contribute to equity and sustainability, the barriers they encounter, and how development partners can better support them to achieve systemic transformation.

• The project identified 24 Seed initiatives across six African countries, with the majority (20) focusing on food production and harvesting. Other areas of operation included food distribution (4), food waste loss (4), food consumption (3), ecosystem functioning (2), the institutional environment (1), and food processing (1).
• Seed initiatives primarily impact distributional equity, which is the fair distribution of benefits and harms. While 22 Seeds contributed to distributional equity, only 7 contributed to procedural equity (participation in decision-making) and 9 to recognitional equity (non-discrimination). Only 4 initiatives contributed to all three dimensions of equity.
• The most frequent positive impacts observed from these initiatives were increased self-sufficiency for vulnerable groups, followed by increased economic opportunities and competitiveness. Other notable contributions included reclaiming land for the commons and the efficient use of resources.
• Women and children are the most common beneficiary groups, receiving benefits primarily in the form of income security and skills development. However, the elderly and disabled are the least common beneficiaries, and there is a general gap in the inclusion of beneficiaries in decision-making processes.
• Seed initiatives face three primary barriers: funding (17 initiatives), community dynamics (12), and poor or unreliable public infrastructure and services such as water, electricity, and roads (10). Funding is often misaligned, meaning the specific needs of the Seed do not match the restrictions of the available grants.
• Collaboration is a critical strategy for overcoming barriers and is often the catalyst for the emergence of new Seeds. Development partners can support these initiatives by amplifying networks, curating connections across different scales, and providing exposure to help Seeds acquire independent funding and influence policy.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (2023). Supporting transformations to a more sustainable and equitable future: Insights from seeds of change in African food systems. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/seeds_guidance-note-jan2024-spreads.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. Supporting transformations to a more sustainable and equitable future: Insights from seeds of change in African food systems. 2023. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/seeds_guidance-note-jan2024-spreads.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=Supporting transformations to a more sustainable and equitable future: Insights from seeds of change in African food systems |date=December 2023 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/seeds_guidance-note-jan2024-spreads.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnership2023supporting, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{Supporting transformations to a more sustainable and equitable future: Insights from seeds of change in African food systems}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/seeds_guidance-note-jan2024-spreads.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }