AFSA African Food Baskets Country Initiatives for African Researchers (USD 1,000 as Facilitation Budget)

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Applications are open for AFSA African Food Baskets Country Initiatives. AFSA is inviting applications from African individuals, preferably researchers, to serve as Country Researchers for the first round of African Food Baskets documentation. This first round will cover ten countries.AFSA will select one researcher per country. Selected researchers will be trained on the African Food Baskets Toolkit and will then lead the documentation of the food basket in their own country over a period of one months.

Ten Country Researchers will be selected—one from each participating country—to document the foods, dishes, beverages, recipes, food sources, menus, stories, proverbs and cultural knowledge that shape their country’s food heritage.

The initiative forms part of the TAFS Project, funded by Sida, and contributes to AFSA’s My Food Is African campaign. It aims to preserve and promote African food knowledge while building a continental resource for advocacy, research, education, communication and policy engagement.

The first phase will cover ten countries, selected to ensure regional balance across Africa and representation of Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone contexts. The final list of participating countries will be determined after the applications have been reviewed.

Using the African Food Baskets KoboToolbox Toolkit, selected researchers will work with communities and local knowledge holders to document their country’s food basket. The assignment will include community engagement, field data collection, photography, validation of findings, and submission of a complete country data package and brief narrative report.

AFSA African Food Baskets Country Initiatives Scope of Work

The selected Country Researcher will:

Attend the AFSA online training on the African Food Baskets Toolkit and complete the practice exercises.
Prepare a short country workplan identifying the communities or food territories to be documented, the knowledge holders to be engaged and the fieldwork schedule.
Conduct community entry, explain the purpose of the initiative and obtain consent from communities and individual participants before any documentation begins.
Collect data using the KoboToolbox modules, meeting at least the minimum country data package set out below.
Collect and caption photographs and other media in line with the consent recorded in Form 7.
Complete the Field Data Quality and Validation Checklist and validate the findings with the communities concerned before final submission.
Submit the complete country data package to AFSA together with a short narrative report of no more than eight pages covering the process followed, the people engaged, the main findings, foods identified as being at risk, and recommendations.
Participate in one continental review session with the other Country Researchers.

Facilitation

Each selected researcher will receive USD 1,000 as facilitation for the assignment.
This amount is paid after the complete country data package has been submitted and accepted by AFSA, and it covers the researcher’s time, local travel, communication and community engagement costs.
Applicants should note that this is a facilitation towards a collaborative documentation process and not a commercial consultancy fee.
Researchers are encouraged to work with AFSA member organisations, community groups and networks in their country to keep costs low and to strengthen local ownership of the results.

Eligibility Criteria for AFSA African Food Baskets Country Initiatives

Applicants must:

Be a national of, or be resident and actively working in, the country they are applying to document.
Hold a background in research, preferably in food systems, agriculture, agroecology, nutrition, anthropology, sociology, development studies, environmental studies, cultural heritage or a related field. A postgraduate qualification is an advantage, but strong demonstrated field research experience will also be considered.
Have practical experience of qualitative fieldwork, community interviews or participatory documentation.
Be able to work in at least one of English, French or Portuguese, and be able to communicate in the main local language of the communities to be documented, or arrange reliable interpretation.
Have access to a smartphone, tablet or computer and be willing to learn KoboToolbox. Prior experience with KoboToolbox or similar mobile data collection tools is an advantage.
Be able to take clear, well composed photographs of foods, dishes and food environments, or work with someone who can.
Be available for the full period.

Staff, members and affiliates of AFSA member organisations are eligible and are encouraged to apply. Women researchers, young researchers and researchers working directly with indigenous peoples, pastoralists, fisherfolk and forest communities are particularly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Submit the following in a single email: (Please take note of the page limits)

A curriculum vitae of no more than two pages with at least two referees.
A country concept note of no more than three pages setting out the communities or food territories you would work with, why you have chosen them, the knowledge holders you would engage, how you would obtain consent, and how you would manage fieldwork within two months.
One example of previous relevant work, such as a report, article, thesis chapter or documentation product.
Where applicable, the name of the AFSA member organisation you are affiliated with.
Send applications to afsa@afsafrica.org by 6th September 2026, with the subject line “African Food Baskets Researcher: Uganda”.
Applications may be submitted in English, French or Portuguese. Only shortlisted applicants will be
contacted.

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Application Deadline: 6th September 2026