This video showcases GAIN’s collaboration with Buguruni Market (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). It illustrates the early testing of the Food Systems Governance model; highlighting the importance of i) knowing the local food system, ii) One Nutrition (nutrition, food hygiene and safety, reduced food waste), and iii) engaging multiple stakeholders to co-design and support infrastructure investments that enhance vendor livelihoods, as well as improve the quality, safety, and value of food stored, upcycled, and sold to consumers.
Investing in public market infrastructure is crucial for food systems resilience and sustainability. It drives and scales positive impacts on food security, nutrition, the economy, the environment, and community well-being. Such investments create the necessary conditions for thriving wholesale, local, and traditional markets. Viewed as mini-food ecosystems, these markets are places where: vendors source, store, handle, discuss, and sell food; sales to food retailers offer insights into the local food economy; consumers' dietary choices can be influenced towards making purchases of diverse, safe, healthy foods.
Investments in infrastructure—ranging from flooring and raised stalls to WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) facilities, pitched roofs, solar panels, cooling rooms, and food waste stations—create the necessary conditions for basic services like clean water, sanitation, and waste management to be delivered, while also encouraging the adoption of best practices. This strengthens the resilience of markets as key food distribution hubs and supports vendor livelihoods.
To realise financial, social, and environmental benefits, market investments must be paired with vendor training and inclusive governance involving market leaders and local and city government.