Mwenye Macho Haambiwi Tazama (WFD exhibit 16 Oct 2024)
Our World Food Day exhibit used a Swahili proverb meaning "One who has eyes is not told where to look". This perfectly captured our message: while the informal food economy is right in front of us, vital, visible, and integral to the everyday lives of millions it is too often overlooked, misunderstood, or under-appreciated. After all, the informal economy is THE economy.
The exhibit sparked important conversations about how labelling parts of the food economy as “informal” can create an unintended distance, making it seem like a separate entity. In reality, the informal economy is inseparable from the overall economy—it’s the backbone that holds communities together, sustains livelihoods, and fuels entrepreneurship and innovation.
The insights we shared are based on participatory research conducted by Brink earlier this year, in collaboration with Kenyan partners Laterite, PROCOL Kenya, Ideas Unplugged Ltd, and Busara with seed funding from TRANSFORM (Unilever, FCDO & EY).
A big thank you to the Netherlands Food Partnership team for trusting us with delivering this vision and shining a light on this important topic, and to Ideas Unplugged Ltd for beautifully capturing the stories of Kenyan entrepreneurs across the entire farm-to-fork value chain. And kudos to all Brink colleagues for bringing all your creativity, thoughtfulness, and knowledge to surface and bring these important stories to the world.
Happy we can play a small part in shifting perspectives on this matter and hope to get to continue to work with others who want to contribute to a better future of work in food systems.
Author
Alexandra Losneanu
Innovation Director Brink
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