Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP)-funded research embarks on knowledge-co-creation in transdisciplinary consortia. However, it is insufficiently clear what contextual factors and institutional dynamics affect multi-actor and cross-sector learning; and whether it leads to research uptake and sustainable institutional change. This project aims to unravel knowledge brokering, learning and knowledge co-creation in two F&BKP consortia and their networks. Systematic literature review and comparative action research will generate insight into (i) how knowledge co-creation and learning processes are organised; (ii) how and under what conditions knowledge co-creation involving local people’s tacit knowledge, practitioners’ experiential knowledge, and researchers’ generalized knowledge can lead to better research uptake; and (iii) the prospects of institutionalising the processes after project closure. Focusing on the practitioners-driven TREEFARMS project, Ghana (applied research) and the researchers-driven Inclusive Value Chain Collaboration project in Ghana and South Africa (integrated programme), the project compares knowledge co-creation and learning between countries and from two different entry points for transdisciplinary research, while connecting those to the F&BKP as a third learning platform. Deliverables include a systematic literature review on knowledge brokering/co-creation and joint learning in transdisciplinary contexts; insights into how these processes materialise within the F&BKP; and a framework for implementation in other contexts. Results will be published in peer-reviewed articles and tailor-made outputs.

Benefits of gender-sensitive reforestation schemes like Ghana?s Modified Taungya System (MTS) that combine trees and food crops are reduced after canopy closure, when farmers lose interest as food crops can no longer be grown. This project seeks to enhance food and income security for MTS/tree farmers after canopy closure by examining and building capacity on how three previously introduced shade-tolerant non-timber forest products can be successfully harvested, processed and marketed. It involves farmers, practitioners, policymakers, NGOs and value-chain actors in a stepwise collaborative learning approach including inception, joint implementation, and dissemination. Built on knowledge gaps identified by farmers and practitioners, this proposal contributes to the broader debate on landscape approaches that aim to integrally address food insecurity, deforestation, environmental degradation, and climate change. Deliverables include insights intro opportunities for improved production, processing and marketing and how continual learning can be institutionalised in farmer groups, communities of practice, and learning platforms.