FEMOZ proposes the establishment of an innovative "Living Lab" long-term R&D infrastructure including a "Science-Policy-Society Interface (SPSI)" and a "Capacity Development Hub (CDH)"

The Living Lab (LL) is a user-centered, open-innovation platform for promoting co-research on measuring the external and personal domains of food environments influencing FSN, as well as the link between livelihood resilience and FSN. The SPSI is integrated into the LL and aims at the cooperation between academia, policy, and society for participatory Evidence Informed Decision-Making. The SPSI will enable effective dissemination (up-scaling, out-scaling) of project outputs based on the exchange of evidence from the Living Lab with individuals who can influence the outcomes of policy decisions impacting the food environment. The CDH will contribute to the deep-scaling of results by investing in transformative learning for jointly developing and implementing capacity development measures.

The project is in line with the objectives of the BMEL call Food Environments for Improved Nutrition. FEMOZ adapts known metrics applied in HIC for measuring food environments to rural contexts in Mozambique. It will measure how external and personal dimensions of food environments mediate specific food acquisition and consumption decisions, i.e., understanding the factors influencing decision-making and dietary behavior.

It will as well help policy-makers in developing sustainable options to shape local food environments by (i) Producing evidence on the potentials of more diversified farming systems and value-chains, including native nutrient-dense foods. (ii) Analyzing affordability and the impacts price volatilities can have on food accessibility. (iii) Determining how structural aspects of local rural food markets interact with accessibility, personal convenience, and desirability. (iv) Measuring and understanding the link between the resilience of smallholder populations and FSN.

The project contributes to promote healthy and diverse diets based on existing local resources and traditions and develop nutrition education measures for a healthy diet against the background of changing local food environments. This is achieved by (i) developing a curriculum and implementing a master’s course at the university Rovuma on FSN, (ii) implementing several capacity development and educational measures in FSN such as a LOOC and TOT on homestead production of nutrient-rich crops and native NUS, training in preparing nutritious meals, good practice manuals, etc., and (iii) the promotion of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines. The project contributes to the development of knowledge regarding the protection of consumers, for example, by analyzing how food safety interventions could lead to higher production/demand diversity and ultimately better consumer’s nutrition and health.

The project’s approach also ensures cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination of nutrition-sensitive policies, measures, and their implementation for healthy and nutritional diets. For example, through collaboration in the identification of solutions to the current cooperation constraints faced by SETSAN and INGC in operationalizing available FSN policies and disaster risk planning/management at the sub-national level (provinces and districts) against the backdrop of disaster risk.

FEMOZ Living Lab Work Packages