CEA-FIRST, the Consortium Europe Africa on Research and Innovation for Food Systems Transformation, consists of 21 partners from Africa and Europe, partly from the former LEAP4FNSSA, extended with new public and private network partners. CEA-FIRST will operationalise the International Research Consortium (IRC) as a long-term platform on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) in line with the FNSSA Roadmap of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD). This IRC is a member-based, multi-actor platform and will work towards increasing synergies and coherence while reducing fragmentation and duplication of research efforts. Its aim is to promote higher returns on investments and impact on business development in Africa and Europe, by linking actors, research and innovation projects, initiatives, and funding programmes. CEA-FIRST will: 1. provide public access to a large knowledge platform, 2. offer a sound method for analysis of R&I activities, 3. support the updating of the FNSSA Roadmap, 4. establish operational working groups and thematic research calls. The final output will be a fully functional IRC, including governance bodies. CEA-FIRST will also support its liaison with the High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD). It will create a learning environment, including communication channels, to support multi stakeholder networks and to strengthen R&I coordination. The IRC will also serve related AU-EU policy priorities, such as the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy and the Innovation Agenda of the HLPD, as well as the European Green Deal priorities (and farm to fork strategy) and the AU priorities like the African Free Trade Area.

AfroGrow proposes a comprehensive strategy to promote and advance sustainable agroforestry practices across Africa, addressing key challenges related to climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and socio-economic development. By focusing on collaboration, innovation, and capacity building, AfroGrow aims to transform agroforestry systems into resilient, multi-functional landscapes that enhance food security, mitigate climate change, and promote inclusive growth. Through a network of six Living Labs, AfroGrow will facilitate participatory research and innovation, enabling local communities, researchers, and policymakers to co-create sustainable agroforestry solutions tailored to diverse ecological and socio-economic contexts. These Living Labs will serve as hubs for knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and capacity building, empowering stakeholders to adopt and implement best practices in agroforestry management. AfroGrow will develop regional suitability maps for local plant species and animal breeds, facilitating informed decision-making for stakeholders. Simultaneously, it will conduct comprehensive impact assessments of regenerative management measures, providing evidence- and data-based recommendations for policy formulation and decision-making. This will enhance ecosystem resilience through sustainable land management practices and secure human well-being. Central to AfroGrow's approach is the promotion of gender equality and social inclusion, recognizing the critical role of women and youth in agroforestry development. By fostering equitable participation and representation, AfroGrow aims to amplify the voices of marginalized groups and ensure that agroforestry interventions benefit all members of society. Through collaborative partnerships, interdisciplinary research, and stakeholder engagement, AfroGrow seeks to catalyze a paradigm shift towards resilient, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable agroforestry systems within the African Union.

Food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) are among the critical development concerns in Africa. FNSSA is among the policy priorities in many African countries and at the center of the AU/EU international development agenda. FNSSA was the priority R&I area in the AU-EU High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology, and Innovation. This was further substantiated by the establishment of the Pan-African Network for Economic Analysis of Policies (PANAP). StEPPFoS thus, aims contribute to the FNSSA 10-year roadmap and the global transition towards sustainable food systems through the implementation of activities that link PANAP to the FNSSA partnership. Specific objectives are (1) to improved capacities of stakeholders (2) to enhanced science-policy interface (3) to improve strategies that promote scientific support within policy development (4) to expand and strengthen the PANAP Network. StEPPFoS will be implemented through its 8 work-packages (WPs) over a period of 48 months. Capacity building, stakeholder engagements, participatory monitoring, evaluation, and learning are the main methods to be used to deliver StEPPFoS objectives whiles adhering to open science principles and effective data management practices. The consortium is well positioned to deliver these objectives as it draws on the expertise and experiences of its partners drawn from both Europe and Africa credible academic, research, and policy institutions.

PROIntensAfrica intends to develop a proposal for a long term research and innovation partnership between Europe and Africa, focusing on the improvement of the food and nutrition security and the livelihoods of African farmers by exploring and exploiting the diversity of pathways to sustainable intensification of African agro-food systems. The exploration will include environmental, economic and social externalities along the whole value chains. PROIntensAfrica has the ambition to formulate a research and innovation agenda, identifying the domains in need for further research to realize the potential of African food systems. In addition, PROIntensAfrica will suggest governance mechanisms that are effective in supporting the partnership. Key is the perception that pooling resources is the best way to align existing and initiate new research. This perception follows the policy of the EC, where instruments of joint programming like ERA-NET, JPI and article 185 aim to accomplish synergy and increase the effectiveness of resources. Pooling resources goes beyond the scientific domain and reaches into the policy domain. Consequently, besides being rooted in sound and challenging research, a partnership proposal needs to meet national and international policies to fly. Therefore PROIntensAfrica pay specific attention to engage with the policy domain, as exemplified by the intended creation of a policy support group. The rationale of the project is that a variety of pathways leads to sustainable intensification of African food systems. Different pathways are advocated in literature. High-input farming systems, for example, contrast with organic farming systems, each with their own supporters and criticasters. It is the conviction of the PROIntensAfrica consortium that moving beyond that debate will open exciting new pathways, and that combining elements of different systems will yield innovative systems that are optimally adapted to specific contexts.