PUBLICATION

From Streets to Tables: Bottom–Up Co-creation Case Studies for Healthier Food Environments in Vietnam and Nigeria

Publication date: 17 | 10 | 2024

Current food systems fail to provide equity, sustainability, and positive health outcomes, thus underscoring the critical need for their transformation. Intervening in food environments holds substantial promise for contributing to this much-needed transformation.

 Despite scholars and practitioners often recognizing the necessity for bottom–up approaches, there is a dearth of empirical investigations evaluating the potential of these approaches to contribute to food system transformations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our study aimed to address this research gap, providing a unique perspective in this regard. Drawing on evidence from two co-creation case studies conducted with small-scale informal fruit and vegetable vendors and poor consumers in Vietnam and Nigeria from January 2020 to December 2021, we explored the relevance of bottom–up community-engaged co-creation processes in intervening within LMICs’ food retail environments. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, participatory workshops, and focus group discussions, we demonstrated that bottom–up co-creation processes involving marginalized socioeconomic groups can generate retail-level innovations that are tailored to informal retail contexts, whereas remaining aligned with established top–down theories and literature pertaining to food environments and healthy diets. We provided empirical evidence highlighting how both vendors and consumers respond positively to the co-created innovations. Expanding upon our results, we offered methodological insights applicable to interventions targeted at food environments in LMICs, and considerations for future research or development initiatives in this domain. Our findings revealed the capacity of vulnerable stakeholders to actively engage in public health initiatives and contribute to developing innovative solutions that are context-specific and conducive to the adoption of healthier dietary practices. These results confirm the potential of bottom–up, co-creation, real-world interventions within informal settings to contribute toward fostering inclusive transformation of food systems.

 

 From Streets to Tables: Bottom–Up Co-creation Case Studies for Healthier Food Environments in Vietnam and Nigeria

 

 

 

 

OTHER NEWS

Food Systems Profile: Moc Chau, The Rural Area - Vietnam

17-10-2024

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Moc Chau District in Son La, a peri-urban area in north Vietnam. This profile gives an overview of the main food system outcomes, constituent elements and drivers.

Food Systems Profile: Dong Anh, The peri-urban area - Vietnam.

17-10-2024

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Dong Anh district in Hanoi, a peri-urban area in north Vietnam. This profile gives an overview of the main food system outcomes, constituent elements and drivers.

Food Systems Profile - Cau Giay, The Urban Area - Vietnam

17-10-2024

This Food Systems (FS) profile aims to provide a synopsis of the food system of the Cau Giay district in Hanoi, an urban area in north Vietnam.

Food system policy baseline assessment - Report from Vietnam

17-10-2024

This policy baseline assessment was to provide a snapshot of the views and perceptions of policy-makers and key actors in different domains directly related to food system in Vietnam. This work contributes in Vietnam to the Food System for Healthier Diet flagship implemented as part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) CGIAR Research Programme.

Diets, Food Choices and Environmental Impacts across an Urban-Rural Interface in Northern Vietnam

17-10-2024

In this study, the authors investigate how the nutrition—food—environment nexus changes across a rural–urban transect and gender and affects diets, food choices, and consequent environmental impacts. The study aims to (1) characterize the dietary patterns and the GHGE and blue water use associated with the diets and (2) to examine the associations between food sourcing, perceived food choices, and diet-related environmental impacts in three contrasting urban, peri-urban, and rural districts in Northern Vietnam.

Determining key research areas for healthier diets and sustainable food systems in Viet Nam

17-10-2024

Vietnamese food systems are undergoing rapid transformation, with important implications for human and environmental health and economic development. Poverty has decreased, and diet quality and undernutrition have improved significantly since the end of the Doi Moi reform period (1986-1993) as a result of Viet Nam opening its economy and increasing its regional and global trade.

Defining the benchmark research sites (rural to urban transect) in Vietnam

17-10-2024

To foster in-depth research and practical applications, selecting benchmark sites from rural to urban areas not only reflects the diversity of food systems but also serves as a key to sustainable solutions.

Defining barriers to food systems sustainability: a novel conceptual framework

17-10-2024

The transformation of food systems emerges as a critical challenge necessitating a deep, holistic comprehension of the complex and multifaceted barriers that hinder progress towards sustainability.

Cost and affordability of healthy diets in Vietnam

17-10-2024

Objectives: To estimate the cost and affordability of healthy diets recommended by the 2016–2020 Vietnamese food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG).

Conceptualizing sustainable diets in Vietnam: Minimum metrics and potential leverage points

17-10-2024

Like many countries, the Vietnamese government and international aid organizations in Vietnam have considerable interest in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which are inextricably linked with sustainable diets. The authors grounded the development of our conceptual framework in a Vietnamese context from the outset of the study, while also drawing from the scientific literature to incorporate the breadth of knowledge and theory available on sustainable diets.

Child stunting is associated with child, maternal, and environmental factors in Vietnam

17-10-2024

Child stunting has immediate and long-term consequences including increased morbidity and mortality as well as detrimental impacts on child development and adult health, and it contributes to the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition, hindering economic development Therefore, the authors want to improve understanding of the determinants of child stunting in Vietnam nationally and among vulnerable subpopulations by assessing associations of hypothesized child-, maternal-, household- and environment-level determinants of stunting in children 6–59 months using nationally representative data from the 2015 Vietnam Nutrition Surveillance System.

Bottom-up participatory prioritization and identification of potential actions and interventions in three A4NH benchmark sites in Vietnam

17-10-2024

Included in the A4NH program, The authors researchers recommend future work that documents the engagement process with local stakeholders to prioritize local food systems’ issues and identify possible demand based actions, interventions, or local policy in three benchmark sites.