Potentials of Agroecological practices in east Africa with a focus on Circular water-energy-nutrient systems (PrAEctiCe)

While the East African Community has made significant progress in advancing agroecology and sustainable food systems, there are still several challenges to face, including the lack of access to appropriate extension services, aggressive promotion of industrial farming, and pro-AE policies not being implemented. Though there are a few organisations that promote AE in East Africa, many smallholder farmers feel like they do not have enough tangible evidence that AE works.

To help East African smallholder farmers with their AE transition, PrAEctiCe will focus on quantifying impacts of current agroecological practices, providing evidence that AE is both sustainable and financially viable. The project goes beyond the existing indicator frameworks by putting the “concept into action” with a decision support tool for agroecology advisors supporting the selection of the best suited combination of agroecological practices in a local context. In addition, it puts a focus on circular water-energy-nutrient systems. Integrated systems of fish farming (aquaculture) and agriculture (Integrated Aquaculture Agriculture, IAA) play a special role here. The integration of aquaculture with crop production in mixed cropping systems is a key to sustainable agricultural production systems due to the ecological and agricultural added value.

The decision support tool will be validated in three living labs -focused on circular water-energy-nutrient systems of integrated aqua-agriculture- situated in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. A comprehensive set of communication and dissemination activities together with policy recommendations will ensure that results are shared across Africa and between Africa and the EU.

PrAECtiCe is coordinated by Hochschule Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Water Technology Group of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology under Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Hoinkis.

As a project partner, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum supports with the overall coordination of the project, dissemination and communication activities, exploitation of project results as well as data management.

Further information:

• Project name: Potentials of Agroecological practices in east Africa with a focus on Circular water-energy-nutrient systems (PrAEctiCe)
• Funding: European Commission, Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement Number. 101084248)
• Total funding budget for the project: EUR 6.9 million
• Participating countries: Germany, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Tanzania, Uganda
• Duration: 42 months, 11/2022 – 04/2026