当前的粮食系统无法提供公平,可持续性和积极的健康结果,从而强调了他们转型的迫切需要。干预食物环境对于促进这一急需的转变具有重要的前景。尽管学者和实践者经常认识到自下而上方法的必要性,缺乏评估这些方法对低收入和中等收入国家(LMICs)粮食系统转型的潜力的实证调查。我们的研究旨在解决这一研究空白,在这方面提供了一个独特的视角。利用2020年1月至2021年12月在越南和尼日利亚对小规模非正规水果和蔬菜供应商以及贫困消费者进行的两项共同创造案例研究的证据,我们探讨了自下而上的社区参与共同创造过程在干预LMICs食品零售环境中的相关性。采用混合方法方法,包括定量调查,定性访谈,参与式研讨会,和焦点小组讨论,我们证明,涉及边缘化社会经济群体的自下而上的共同创造过程可以产生针对非正规零售环境的零售级创新,而保持与既定的自上而下的理论和文献有关的食物环境和健康饮食。我们提供了经验证据,强调了供应商和消费者如何对共同创造的创新做出积极反应。扩大我们的结果,我们提供了适用于针对中低收入国家食品环境的干预措施的方法学见解,以及对该领域未来研究或开发计划的考虑。我们的研究结果表明,脆弱的利益相关者有能力积极参与公共卫生举措,并有助于开发针对具体情况并有利于采用更健康的饮食习惯的创新解决方案。这些结果证实了自下而上的潜力,共同创造,非正式环境中的现实世界干预措施,以促进粮食系统的包容性转型。
Current food systems fail to provide equity, sustainability, and positive health outcomes, thus underscoring the critical need for their transformation. Intervening in food environments holds substantial promise for contributing to this much-needed transformation. Despite scholars and practitioners often recognizing the necessity for bottom-up approaches, there is a dearth of empirical investigations evaluating the potential of these approaches to contribute to food system transformations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our study aimed to address this research gap, providing a unique perspective in this regard. Drawing on evidence from two co-creation
case studies conducted with small-scale informal fruit and vegetable vendors and poor consumers in Vietnam and Nigeria from January 2020 to December 2021, we explored the relevance of bottom-up community-engaged co-creation processes in intervening within LMICs\' food retail environments. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, participatory workshops, and focus group discussions, we demonstrated that bottom-up co-creation processes involving marginalized socioeconomic groups can generate retail-level innovations that are tailored to informal retail contexts, whereas remaining aligned with established top-down theories and literature pertaining to food environments and healthy diets. We provided empirical evidence highlighting how both vendors and consumers respond positively to the co-created innovations. Expanding upon our results, we offered methodological insights applicable to interventions targeted at food environments in LMICs, and considerations for future research or development initiatives in this domain. Our findings revealed the capacity of vulnerable stakeholders to actively engage in public health initiatives and contribute to developing innovative solutions that are context-specific and conducive to the adoption of healthier dietary practices. These results confirm the potential of bottom-up, co-creation, real-world interventions within informal settings to contribute toward fostering inclusive transformation of food systems.