The Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa (IDCPPA) and the Centre for Social Sciences Research at the University of Cape Town invites you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 22 August 2023 presented by Yandiswa Mazwana and Scott Drimie as part of the Nourished Child Team at 12:45pm. 

About the Seminar:

Youth Ambassadors as a response to urban food systems research

The Nourished Child (NC) project aimed to understand how systems interact in the lives of women with children under five to shape their diets. The research was embedded in the lived experience of two groups of women in Cape Town (Masiphumelele) and Worcester (Zweletemba).

Nourished Child Team

As the research unfolded, a series of workshops were initiated to facilitate dialogue with the groups of women and other stakeholders. The intention was to develop and initiate change strategies in the research sites to test multiple solutions to the identified challenges. The innovative approach created a deeper understanding of the impact of food, urban, health, and social service systems on the lived experience of the participants. A collective sense of the need for change was engendered and different strategies were identified for affecting change, including identifying which actors had agency to act in the system.

In Masiphumelele, this process evolved into an ongoing collaboration to train and support youth food ambassadors to innovate, educate, and advocate for nutrition.

In this presentation, Scott and Yandiswa will tell the story of this process. We will suggest that carefully designed and facilitated dialogue, building on lived experience research, can influence policy and programming and ultimately inform transversal governance approaches to improve infant and young child nutrition.

Speakers:

 

Yandiswa Mazwana is the founder of Masiphumelele Creative Hub, established in 2017. The organization works to provide a safe, supportive and educational environment where community members can use the power of creativity and art to overcome their daily challenges. The vision is for all children and youth of the community to have access to healthy food to acquire the skills to better their future, and take full responsibility of developing their communities accordingly. The organization runs an extensive feeding scheme, and has established an educational relationship with South African Food Labs.

Scott Drimie works with facilitation, research and teaching related to food systems and food security. He has focused mainly on food systems, examining different perspectives on power and the web of actors, relationships and activities that shape them. Scott’s academic work pivots on his role as a Professor (adjunct) in the Department of Global Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine Sciences at Stellenbosch University. He has been part of the leadership collective of the Southern Africa Food Lab since 2009.

 22 August 2023
 12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room

 

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa

Image: Photo from Shutterstock