In this series focusing on ultra-processed food (UPF) on the African continent, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) explore the impacts of shifting dietary patterns, with increasing reliance on low-cost, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) globally, and in Africa in particular, in the context of an urgent call for a just, agroecological food system transition.

Through this series, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) aims to firmly advocate for an agroecological food system transition that situates smallholder farmers, territorial markets, traditional retailers and the dynamic networks that facilitate the movement of produce in the centre. This will, inter alia, entail testing UPF against the 13 principles of agroecology developed in 2019 by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition (HLPE); in particular, HLPE principles 9 (social values and diets); 10 (fairness); 11 (connectivity); and 13 (participation) (HLPE, 2019).