Finnish best practices for better food security in West Africa

Farming conditions in West Africa are quite different from those in Finland. When thinking about what food security best practices Finland could provide to West African countries, we must think broader. What do we have that we could recommend to others? In this article we describe the examples gathered in the Ulysseus NEEMA project on best practices from European countries to Senegal, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Home economics to strengthen life skills

Home economics is a versatile subject that teaches everyday life management and has a social dimension. It develops practical skills, cooperation and interaction skills, the ability to make sustainable choices and the ability to apply knowledge in everyday life situations. As it is taught to both boys and girls in Finnish upper secondary school, it increases gender equality, multiculturalism, and a democratic upbringing. (Opetushallitus 2024) Home economics has a long history in Finland and could offer opportunities in West African countries to increase gender equality.

Hygiene exam to ensure safe handling of food

In Finland legislation states, that every employee handling perishable food in their work, must obtain an official hygiene passport. The hygiene exam and passport concept was established in 2002, and over one million people have received the passport. The hygiene exam ensures that everyone handling food has the basic knowledge of hygiene and can handle food safely. The hygiene in restaurants and food outlets in Finland is particularly good, and food borne illnesses are rare. (Vaarala et al. 2021.) A similar system could be set up in the West African countries, however, the impact could be less effective than in Finland as much of the food consumed outside of homes is not bought in official restaurants.

Nordic nutrition recommendations as a joint research effort

The Nordic countries create nutritional recommendations together, as they have similar food cultures and nutritional challenges. Finland, as a Nordic country, participates in setting out the joint Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. The collaborative effort for making joint policies and recommendations has been continuing since 1980 and the latest recommendations are from 2023. Based on the Nordic recommendations, Finland sets its own country-specific recommendations, which are more practice-oriented and aimed for public food policies, procurement, and work as guidelines for the general adult population and specific recommendation for some population groups. (Blomhoff et. al. 2023.)

The nutritional challenges in West Africa are mostly related to food uncertainty caused by climate change, drought and security crises in certain areas. Challenges specific for the NEEMA project countries are described in country reports found on the NEEMA project site. Despite the differences to Finland, the same collaborative, research-based approach on creating West African nutrition guidelines and sharing knowledge could be used in areas where staple foods, food cultures and challenges are similar.

The REKO model as a means to join local farmers and consumers

The REKO model (from Swedish for fair consumption) is a Facebook-platform connecting small food producers and consumers together. The platform offers the producers a means to sell their products locally, and for consumers to connect with the producers. The benefits of the REKO rings from the producer’s point of view are that they do not have to use time standing in markets, and they can weekly inform how much product they can sell. From the consumer point-of-view it is easy to order your products and pick up products from different producers at the same time. (Hagolani-Albov & Ehrnström-Fuentes 2023) A similar concept as the Finnish REKO-ring could work also in West Africa. Mobile phones and Facebook are easily available, and the rings could make it easier for small scale producers to sell their products.

To summarize, we can conclude that Finland has many examples of good practices other countries could take in to use. The examples presented here could help West African countries to increase gender equality through education, improve awareness of food hygiene, work together to develop nutritional resilience and improve the livelihood of small-scale farmers. The NEEMA project will continue to discover opportunities to benefit the food security in West Africa.

Picture: Shutterstock