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One Hundred Priority Questions for the Development of Sustainable Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Devenish, Adam JM; Schmitter, Petra; Jellason, Nugun P; Esmail, Nafeesa; Abdi, Nur M; Adanu, Selase K; Adolph, Barbara; ... Tobias, Joseph A; + view all (2023) One Hundred Priority Questions for the Development of Sustainable Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Land , 12 (10) , Article 1879. 10.3390/land12101879. Green open access

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Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an expected doubling of human population and tripling of food demand over the next quarter century, posing a range of severe environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges. In some cases, key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in direct conflict, raising difficult policy and funding decisions, particularly in relation to trade-offs between food production, social inequality, and ecosystem health. In this study, we used a horizon-scanning approach to identify 100 practical or research-focused questions that, if answered, would have the greatest positive impact on addressing these trade-offs and ensuring future productivity and resilience of food-production systems across sub-Saharan Africa. Through direct canvassing of opinions, we obtained 1339 questions from 331 experts based in 55 countries. We then used online voting and participatory workshops to produce a final list of 100 questions divided into 12 thematic sections spanning topics from gender inequality to technological adoption and climate change. Using data on the background of respondents, we show that perspectives and priorities can vary, but they are largely consistent across different professional and geographical contexts. We hope these questions provide a template for establishing new research directions and prioritising funding decisions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Type: Article
Title: One Hundred Priority Questions for the Development of Sustainable Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/land12101879
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/land12101879
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Agricultural development; agroecosystems; environmental impacts; horizon scan; food security; food systems; social inclusion; Sustainable Development Goals; trade-offs
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10179173
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