Social learning and innovation findings, a food surplus and market transformation mobile application initiative (Food for Us)

January 2019Agro-ecology for the 21st Centuary Conference,

Cape Town

Aim of the Food for Us Application 1. To reduce on Farm Food surplus 2. To address the disconnect in local supply chains 3. To open up a new and sustainable consumption and production

opportunities in local communities

Products of the Food for Us Project 1. 1. Final Amended version of the Food For Us application to be rolled out

to the public.2. 2. Research that explores the social learning enabled by the application

for the 40 participants.3. 3. Research that measures the resources and Food waste that is saved by

the application across the 40 trial participants.

Raymond Mhlaba Municipality

• Mostly rural with small towns• Agriculture drives the local

economy• Poverty and unemployment high• Food shortages and waste in the

same space• Focused work in Alice, Middeldrift

and Fort Cox area

-Learning Network, -Productive Demonstration sites- Using Water Harvesting Techniques -Training of Trainers Course meetings

Western Cape Case Study –Worcester

Eastern Cape Case Study –Raymond Mhlaba Municipality

Raymond Mhlaba Municipality

• Mostly rural with small towns• Agriculture drives the local

economy• Poverty and unemployment high• Food shortages and waste in the

same space• Focused work in Alice, Middeldrift

and Fort Cox area - Drive local economic growth- Create an environment that promote investment- Deal with unemployment- Creation agriculture value chains

-Learning Network, -Productive Demonstration sites- Using Water Harvesting Techniques -Training of Trainers Course meetings

Introductory Workshop

Base Line Survey Final Survey

Value Creation Interviews

FFU Dissemination

event

App Development

Application update

App use training

Match Making Events

Amanzi for Food TOT

Food for Us WhatsApp group

FOOD FOR US TIMELINE

Theory

Technological Affordances

Social Learning

Communities of Practice

Value Creation Framework

Landscape of Practice

Affordances – Realized and Potential

Wenger, Trayner and De Laat ( 2011)

Wenger- Trayner, Wenger-Trayner (2014)

Majchrzak and Markus (2012)

WHAT WE FOUND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ALONE DOES NOT ALLOW FOR FULL VALUE CYCLESTO BE REALIZED ON ITS OWN

Food For Us Managers : disrupt the food system – ENABLE MARKET ACCESS and REDUCE ON-FARM WASTAGE The Users : To increase revenue and Increase buyer pool

Immediate Potential Applied Realized Reframing Excitement Improve mobile

Use SkillsDownload the application

Increased confidence in mobile app use

Using technology as an agri-business tool

Exposure to new ideas

Develop relationships

Advertise produce on the application

Exposure to localproduce

Connect buyers to local farmers

Search for demanded produce

Share market information

View Public Wall

WHAT WE FOUND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ALONE DOES NOT ALLOW FOR FULL VALUE CYCLESTO BE REALIZED

“ICTs are enablers of change and not necessarily creators of change”(Mc Namara , 2003, p.)

Barriers to Value Creation :

• Complex Application Processes • Access to compatible Technology • Software Issues

Value Creation from direct use of Food for Us application was not fully realized to meet the expectations set out by the Food for Us project aims and objectives.

WHAT WE FOUNDNETWORKED SOCIAL LEARNING PROCESSES ENABLED RICH ANDMULTI-LEVELED VALUE IN FOOD FOR US LANDSCAPE OF PRACTICE

NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

Networked Social Learning Processes :

• App Training • WhatsApp Group • Match Making Event • Amanzi for Food TOT

Workshops • Research Interactions

OPENING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

SHARED INTEREST

Immediate Potential Applied Realized Reframing

Excitement Network &Relationship Building

IncreasedCommunication

Strengthening of local supply chain

Using technology as a agri-businesstool

Exposure to new ideas

Data Base Community support

Transacting of local produce

Definition of waste in rural areas

Build Contacts Sense of Community

Collaborative troubleshooting

Improved Application

Bring youth into local supply chain

Building Skills Supportive feedback Loops

Ownership of the project

WhatsApp group Marketing and trading of produce

Increased confidence in Mobile use

Knowledge Sharing Recognize Food waste Interest in sustainable farming

WHAT WE FOUNDNETWORKED SOCIAL LEARNING PROCESSES ENABLED RICH ANDMULTI-LEVELED VALUE IN FOOD FOR US LANDSCAPE OF PRACTICE

The networked social learning processes, which supported the implementation of the Food for Us application in the Raymond Mhlaba community, enable multiple levels of value creation within the Food for Us Landscape of Practice, showing the importance of investing in social learning and network building in social systems of uptake and use around mobile application design and use.

“ Thus understanding the social structures underlying the context specific application of ICT and conceptualising the utility of ICTs in relation to the social structure is important,”

(Owusu et al., 2017).

SOCIAL INNOVATION NEED TO DEVELOP A BUSSINESS MODEL TO ENSURE SOCIAL INNOVATION IS SUSTAINABLE

The Future of Food for Us

• Social Sustainability• Ecological Sustainability• Ethical Sustainability• Economic Sustainability

SOCIAL INNOVATION NEED TO DEVELOP A BUSSINESS MODEL TO ENSURE SOCIAL INNOVATION IS SUSTAINABLE

Theories

• Stakeholder Theory

• Sustainable enterprise

• Social enterprise

• The Business Model Canvas

→ Freeman (1984); Phillips et al. (2003)

→ Hart and Milstein (2003)

→ Yunus and Weber (2007); Nicholls (2006)

→ Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010)

SOCIAL INNOVATION NEED TO DEVELOP A BUSSINESS MODEL TO ENSURE SOCIAL INNOVATION IS SUSTAINABLE

Methodology• Interpretivist, engaged research• Stakeholder Mapping • Delphi technique – multiple

iterations of focus group workshops• Business model design process

Key Partners • Youth

Development• UNEP• Rhodes University• Sustainable Food

systems• All project partners• Future funders and

government• App Developers

Key Activities • Build and

formalise partnerships

Value Proposition

• Growing a locally connected and “Green” Economy

• Enhancing social and environmental value using the Food for Us digital platform to support food economies.

Customer Relationships • Ongoing

refinements based on user feedback

Customer/ Community Segments • Food consumers

and producers at the local level.

• People connecting local producers and consumers.

• Retailers (building local relationships)

Key Resources• Develop info pack• Clarify org

structure• Fundraising

(corporates)• Government

support• Get traction for

App.

Channels• Intermediaries

Extension Officers• Digital Platform• Farmers

Associations• Businesses/ Retail• Professional

interest groups

Cost Structure • Building the Management system• Operational and Legal costs• Fundraising – travel and time• Training for intermediaries

Revenue Streams• Reputation building (e.g. Corporates)• Government programmes• International donors• Subscription, advertising, data sales etc.

Available for download from Google Play Store: For more information: www.foodforus.co.za Contact: Sarah Durr –sarahjanedurr@gmail.comThato Tantsi –t.tantsi@ru.ac.za

Food for Us works best: *in pre-existing social networks*within local food networks

QUESTIONS ?

• Freeman, R.E., 1984. Strategic management: a stakeholder approach. Pitman series in business and public policy. Boston: Pitman.

• Hart, S. L. and Milstein, M. B., 2003. Creating Sustainable Value. Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), pp.56-69.

• Lotz-Sisitka, H., Fien, J. and Ketlhoilwe, M.P.H.E.M.E.L.A.N.G., 2013. Traditions and new niches. International handbook of research in environmental education. Routledge, New York, pp.194-205.

• Majchrzak, A., & Markus, M. L. (2012). Technology affordances and constraints in management information systems (MIS). Encyclopedia of Management Theory, 5. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452276090.n256

• Nicholls, A. ed., 2006. Social entrepreneurship: new models of sustainable social change. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.

• Oelofse, S.H. & Nahman, A. 2013, "Estimating the magnitude of food waste generated in South Africa", Waste Management & Research, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 80-86.

• Oelofse, S. 2015, "Food waste in South Africa: Opportunities and challenges", .• Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Wiley: New Jersey.

Key references

• Phillips, R., Freeman, R. E. and Wicks, A. C., 2003. What stakeholder theory is not. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(4), pp.479–502.

• Raworth, K. 2017, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, Chelsea Green Publishing.

• We are Social. 2017, “Digital in 2017: Southern Africa”, We are Social 2017 Digital Yearbook Available at https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2017-southern-africa

• Wenger-Trayner, E., Fenton-O'Creevy, M., Hutchinson, S., Kubiak, C. and Wenger-Trayner, B. eds., 2014. “Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity, and knowledgeability in practice-based learning”. Routledge.

• Wenger, E., Trayner, B. & De Laat, M. 2011, "Promoting and assessing value creation in communities and networks: A conceptual framework", The Netherlands: Ruud de Moor Centrum, .

• World Wide Foundation. 2017,”Food Loss and Waste: Facts and Futures”, WWF South Africa Available at www.wwf.org.za/food-loss-and-waste-facts-and-futures )

• Yunus, M. and Weber, K., 2007. Creating a world without poverty: social business and the future of capitalism. New York: PublicAffairs.

Key references