Diverse actor perspectives on African urban food systems: lessons from participatory food system modeling in Worcester, South Africa

Abstract

Successful management of complex food systems inherently requires societal engagement. A major barrier is the misalignment between high-level generalized scientific representations of the urban food system and the varying practical perspectives of the actors embedded within it. To bridge this gap, participatory approaches can help in collecting and structuring knowledge from food system actors in a way that is understood by people with a diversity of experiences. Here, we showcase an approach to collect and synthesize diverse actor perspectives on the functioning of the urban food system in Worcester, a secondary city in South Africa. Together with six different groups of actors (N = 18) we built conceptual models of the urban food system and synthesized them into a full conceptual urban food system model. Our results show large differences in actor perspectives of the food system, including several (informal) subsystems that are often ignored in formal scientific food system models. Differences between actors in representation and in deemed importance of food system components can inform joint learning about the urban food system and enhance collaboration in finding food system solutions.