As urbanization progresses, accessing nutritious and healthy foods has become challenging for households and communities due to the complex nature of food systems and poverty. The Urban Food Hives Initiative (UFH) in Uganda aims to build resilient, nutritious, equitable, and regenerative food systems in Kampala, with a focus on the voices and leadership of women and youth. Currently, most small-scale, informal actors in Ugandan food systems, including farmers, informal vendors and distributors, do not receive fair economic returns.

Namibia, distinguished by its arid climate, faces recurrent droughts that challenge local farmers heavily reliant on extensive livestock farming and rangelands. Bush encroachment, characterized by invasive woody species, exacerbates this issue, reducing grass availability, impacting biodiversity, and posing a threat to livestock production. This project addresses these challenges through value chains derived from encroacher bushes, focusing on sustainable production, gender equality, and poverty alleviation.

The Newsletter of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) provides regular updates on activities by TAP and its partners, on the projects and on upcoming events. This issue specifically refers to the period from May 2025 to September 2025.

Apollo Karuga, a recognized Kenyan Food Systems Hero by the UN’s FAO, aimed to address Kenya’s broken food system by developing an affordable, eco-friendly solution for smallholder farmers to preserve food throughout different seasons. Karuga, through his team at Grow Point International, created a solar food dehydrator designed to reduce moisture in food and extend shelf life. The dehydrator, made from locally available materials, utilizes a solar panel, blackpainted buckets for heat absorption, and wire mesh to hold the food.

Soil pollution in Egypt, particularly in the eastern Nile Delta, is caused by excessive use of mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and the discharge of domestic wastewater into agricultural irrigation systems. This leads to the accumulation of heavy metals and pollutants in the soil, affecting crop yields and posing risks to human health. Soil pollution not only endangers health and the environment but also reduces food security and causes economic losses.