HealthyDiets4Africa's coordination and supervision team on a working visit to AfricaRice

The coordination and supervision team of HealthyDiets4Africa project with a six-member delegation led by Prof. Michael Frei and Dr. Tiziana De Magistris carried out a working visit that started on Monday 18 March and ended on 23 March 2024.

The objective of the visit was to review the activities carried out to date in the project implementation by the different partners (AfricaRice, CERFAM, OIC-CI, ESST) in Côte d'Ivoire. This working visit was marked by the sharing of experiences, strategic planning sessions, visits to the premises of partner institutions, and knowledge sharing on scientific methods and experimental design.

"I am very pleased with this visit. This project is a major asset for strengthening food and nutrition security for better consumer health. I am delighted with this collaboration with very committed partners and this level of coordination, which is one of the keys to the success of the project." said Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, AfricaRice Director General. Following AfricaRice DG, Dr. Michael Frei of the Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen thanked Dr. Sali Ndindeng for his frank collaboration and involvement in the implementation of the project as well as the entire AfricaRice team for the efforts made. He then gave a summary of the origin of the project and indicated that the project was in the reporting phase, hence the reason for their presence. He concluded by emphasizing the importance of collaboration and partnership in the fight against malnutrition.

The first day of the working visit was marked by a visit to the AfricaRice research station in Mbé, including a visit to the center’s laboratories and experimental sites. The rest of the working visit was devoted to presentations by Dr. Tiziana De Magistris, Prof. Michael Frei, and Jane Rosette Nabikyu on the following respective themes: Choice experiment methods: step by step to running a hypothetical and Real Choice Experiment, Improving Nutrition and Climate Adaptation Through Agrobiodiversity and Consumer demand for and affordability of black rice in Uganda. Dr Tiziana de Magistris from CITA Aragón, in charge of work package 5 of the project (Improving consumer acceptance of novel foods and diversified diets) led in addition to his webinar, a training session on the design and implementation of Discrete choice experiment (DCE), which is an innovative quantitative method. This method makes it possible to study differences in food choices between socio-economic groups and thus promote a better understanding of food preferences, perceptions, and priorities.