Hivos Food Change Labs
As part of the "Setting the Table Programme", the program successfully used multi-actor initiatives to link citizens with differing interests and create winning alliances focused on sustainable food system transformation. Hivos Food Change Labs are multi-actor social innovation processes that use a systems approach to address pressing issues in a local food system. These Labs bring relevant stakeholders like farmers, entrepreneurs, government officials and food vendors together to collaborate on developing sustainable solutions.
In Zambia, Hivos supported civil society and successfully worked with the government to develop and implement its national crop diversification strategy away from maize mono-cropping. The Beyond Maize study and the short film 'Life Beyond Maize' have had a particularly profound effect on policy discussions. Partners also worked to ensure that local-level interpretation of national policy was in line with the spirit of sustainable diets and to foster a greater say for local citizens in issues that directly affect them. Furthermore, CSO AZIEA set up a food network involving city authorities and actors in both the formal and the informal food market in Kitwe city. Partners in Uganda convened multi-stakeholder consultative meetings on food system related policies which resulted in the growth of the indigenous and traditional food systems agenda beyond the known SD4All partners.
