Co-learning in university-community engagement for sustainable local food systems in South Africa

Abstract

The legacy of racial and spatial segregation in South Africa has left an epistemic chasm between knowledge-producing institutions and members of disadvantaged communities most in need of applying scientific knowledge to address their local societal challenges. The aim of this study is to examine how the co-learning approach can be used to bridge the knowledge asymmetry between university researchers and communities within which their institutions are embedded by building bonds of mutual trust and involving target knowledge users in the design and testing of technological solutions targeted to their needs. Using the outcome mapping (OM) analysis of project documents and key informant interviews of participants in the co-learning project between the University of Johannesburg and Soweto smallholder farmers, this study illustrates the contribution of the co-learning approach to shaping networks of successful innovation co-creation. Our findings indicate that co-learning leads to the optimisation of the capacity building speed when co-learning partners have a shared commitment to the outcomes and application of the co-created knowledge.