The potential of digital tools to foster production, and thus availability, of healthy diets for city dwellers in secondary cities

¹ Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss Centre for International Health, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
² University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
³ Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland
⁴ Sight and Life, Kaiseraugst, Switzerland
⁵ Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya
⁶ Sight and Life, Kigali, Rwanda
⁷ ETH Zurich, Sustainable Agroecosystems Group, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

^* Corresponding author: cornelia.speich@swisstph.ch

Abstract

Urban population growth and strong rural-urban migration are continuing in sub-Saharan Africa. Similarly, traditional farming is no longer attractive to many young people despite its importance for food security. Digitalization can be an ally to make the agri-food system more attractive. The Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project aims to increase and better link the production and demand of safe and healthy foods in two secondary cities each in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda. Two digital tools called Soluta-ag and GATE are introduced in NICE. Soluta-ag keeps records of business transactions in online and offline mode and provides marketplace facilities and automated business analytics in real-time for Farmers’ Hubs, the social business model implemented in NICE. GATE, on the other hand, serves as a selection, screening and validation platform as well as repository for climate smart agri-food system innovations. Preliminary experiences from NICE show that digital tools can A) attract youth for farming, B) connect farmers’ produce to market, and C) facilitate the delivery of contextadapted innovations. Ensuring ways of production are modern and efficient and sufficient employment opportunities are available in urban agri-food systems are crucial to maintain food sovereignty and adequate, diversified nutrition for all city dwellers.