Inclusive dialogue and exchange for smallholder climate preparedness and human wellbeing (360G-Wellcome-320059_Z_24_Z)

Smallholder farmers contribute to human food and nutrition, but are vulnerable to climate and environmental change and face challenges that prevent their participation in the mainstream economy. The proposed project aims to build on the relationships and understanding developed through the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) project, funded by Wellcome Trust. A key outcome of which was recognition of the limited participation of smallholders in the commercial poultry sector. It will facilitate cross-country learning between India and South Africa, specifically providing space for including smallholder farmers in the dialogue in a way that recognises the knowledge and contextual understanding that they will contribute. The project will use the topic of smallholder poultry farming and potential positive and negative impacts on human and environmental health to develop and scale best practices in stakeholder engagement and co-learning. By linking smallholders with government, academia, and civil society and enabling a dialogue that values different knowledge sources equally, the project will develop capabilities that can in turn foster better outcomes for human and animal health, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. The platform will focus on developing platforms that generate evidence of the benefits of co-learning and inform future policy and programming.