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NEEMA

The NEEMA project aims to design a new contextual Food and Nutritional Resilience (FNR) curricula to fit the needs of the West African region. NEEMA means food in Fula, a Senegambian language.

The project will train professors, decision makers and other relevant stakeholders to deliver more effective public policies on sustainable agriculture development and enhance the capacities of participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to be changemakers.

The project also aims to improve participating HEIs’ capacities to support national FNR policies by designing and implementing one social innovation pilot initiative in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal. The project will strengthen cooperation between participating HEIs and European food and nutrition partners including universities, European Technology Platforms and selected clusters, by identifying synergies and common EU–West Africa research, development and innovation challenges.

The project will be implemented by the NEEMA consortium, established in June 2021 and made up of 14 HEIs from Africa (8) and Europe (6), with the participation of leading universities from the Ulysseus Alliance. 

The main outcomes of the project will be

  • a new and adapted FNR curricula
  • a FNR Social Innovation Pilot Model
  • the development of the NEEMA Strategy and Action Plan on FNR challenges in the WA-Sahel region, and
  • the creation of a Regional FNR training and research Network.

The project will contribute to strengthening and modernising the eight participating African HEIs through generation and transfer of new knowledge, adapted to local needs.

NEEMA

Towards healthy and sustainable universities of the future in West Africa and Europe. Fair, healthy and green food models in Higher Education.

Project manager: Johanna Rajakangas-Tolsa

Duration: 2/2024–9/2026

Funding: Erasmus+

Ulysseus Partner Universities: 

Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) (project co-ordinating partner), Universita Degli Studi di Genova (Italy), Hohschule für Offentliche Verwaltung Kiel (Germany), MCI Management Center Innsbruck International (Austria), Universite Cote d’Azur (France), Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (Finland)

Partner Universities in West Africa:

Université de Tahoua (Niger), Universite Abdou Moumouni de Niamey (Niger), Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal), Université Amadou Mahtar MBOW (Senegal), Universite Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso), Universite Polytechnique de Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), Universite des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de Bamako (Mali), Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Appliquée (Mali)

Contact
Johanna
Rajakangas-Tolsa
osaamisaluejohtaja
Competence Area Director
+358 294471177