Newletter Issue #2
Welcome to the GALILEO project 2nd newsletter!
Living Lab Stakeholder Identification and Selection
GALILEO applied a structured approach to identify and select stakeholders for the local GALILEO multi-actor partnerships in the Living Labs. Clear roles and responsibilities were defined to guide the inclusion of relevant actor categories, ensuring balanced and representative partnerships. A dedicated questionnaire was then used to select 20 to 30 stakeholders per Living Lab based on their interest and influence. At least 50% of the multi-actor partnerships members are farmers and pastoralists, complemented by key local actors such as civil society organisations, value chain actors, producer organisations, NGOs, women’s groups, agricultural support services and local authorities. This approach, applied consistently across all countries, ensures strong local engagement and inclusive co-creation for innovative agroforestry solutions.
GALILEO Inception Workshops
The GALILEO inception workshops served as the official moment for establishing the Living Labs. Selected Living Lab stakeholders came together to familiarise themselves with one another, develop a shared understanding of the GALILEO project and Living Lab objectives, clarify roles and key activities, identify priority issues, and agree on next steps.
Kenya
The Kenya inception workshops were held in October 2025 in Kiritiri and Kiamuringa, Embu County, bringing together farmers, NGOs, researchers and public authorities. The workshops introduced the project, mapped key actors and opened dialogue on local agroforestry practices, challenges and opportunities. Discussions highlighted farmers’ innovative practices alongside challenges such as water scarcity, pests, limited technical support and land tenure issues, laying the foundation for strong local collaboration and the next steps of GALILEO activities in Kenya.
Ghana
The Ghana inception workshops were held in August 2025 in the Living Labs of Aponoapono Suhum, New Edubiase and Josabeso-Goaso, bringing together stakeholders from public institutions, research bodies, farming groups, NGOs, financial actors and traditional authorities. The workshops validated the local context, prioritised key challenges and launched the co-creation process. Discussions highlighted cocoa based agroforestry systems, climate variability, land tenure constraints and poverty, while identifying opportunities through active farmer organisations, agroforestry training and available land, and the need for targeted capacity building to support the GALILEO process.
Senegal
The Senegal launching workshops were held in November 2025 in the Living Labs of Niakhar and Ouarkhokh, bringing together stakeholders from farming and pastoral communities, research, local authorities, NGOs and value chain actors. The workshops validated the local context, introduced the Living Lab approach and launched the co-creation process. Discussions highlighted agro silvo pastoral systems, climate related pressures and challenges such as water management, land degradation and access to finance, while framing agroforestry as an integrated solution to strengthen resilience, food security and rural livelihoods.
Cameroon
The GALILEO inception workshop in Cameroon was held in November 2025 in Ntui Bokito, bringing together farmers, researchers, public authorities, private actors and civil society. The workshop built a shared vision for the cocoa agroforestry Living Lab, identified key challenges such as climate stress, farmer-grazer conflicts and limited awareness of tree benefits, and jointly defined priority agroforestry practices. The event strengthened multi-stakeholder collaboration and set clear action steps for field experimentation in the Ntui Bokito Living Lab.
2nd Project Meeting
The 2nd GALILEO Project Meeting took place online on 19th and 20th of June 2025. Partners reviewed progress across countries, aligned methodologies and timelines, and strengthened coordination to support coherent project implementation. Discussions also helped better plan and align on the upcoming field work, socio economic analyses, environmental assessments and modelling activities.
The meeting featured Living Lab updates from Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana and Kenya, highlighting progress, stakeholder engagement and early lessons learned. Contributions also covered baseline survey preparations, actor recruitment and the set-up of field trials, alongside exchanges on ecosystem services, biodiversity, climate resilience, spatial modelling, communication and exploitation. The meeting reinforced collaboration and set clear directions for the next project phase.
Enumerator Trainings Advancing Across Galileo Living Labs
Enumerator trainings have been launched across the GALILEO Living Labs to support the baseline survey assessing the socio economic and socio demographic effects of agrosilvopastoral and agroforestry innovations. Led by Wageningen University, these trainings aim to ensure consistent data collection and a shared understanding of survey tools and methods across countries. By strengthening the capacity of local enumerators, the activity supports the generation of robust and comparable evidence on how GALILEO innovations affect livelihoods and communities, providing a solid foundation for monitoring progress and impact throughout the project.
GALILEO in Major Events
GALILEO highlighted at the African Forum for Food Systems 2025 through the “I raise my sheep in the Countryside” initiative
GALILEO was showcased at the African Forum for Food Systems 2025 in Dakar through the “I raise my sheep in the countryside” innovation. Represented by Al Housseynou Niang (Centre de Suivi Écologique), the project presented a mobile application connecting rural livestock producers with urban consumers to promote animal welfare, traceability and fair incomes. The initiative also supports agroforestry and soil fertility by encouraging the return of organic matter to rural soils. Exchanges with researchers, NGOs and policymakers highlighted the role of digital innovation in advancing sustainable and inclusive agri food systems, in line with GALILEO’s objectives.
GALILEO at the 6th World Congress on Agroforestry
GALILEO participated in the 6th World Congress on Agroforestry (20th to 24th of October 2025, Kigali), contributing to discussions on agroforestry for climate resilience and sustainable land management. The project was showcased through a presentation by FiBL on social and policy frameworks and two posters highlighting GALILEO’s Living Lab approach in Senegal, Ghana, Kenya and Cameroon. The congress strengthened GALILEO’s links with the global agroforestry community and reinforced its commitment to co-creation and evidence-based solutions.
GALILEO highlights agroforestry solutions at Natexpo 2025
GALILEO was featured at Natexpo 2025 during a session within the Climate and Nutrition and One Health programme. Nitidæ and Max Havelaar France presented initial project action plans, demonstrating how agroforestry can address soil degradation, economic pressures on producers and generational renewal in West Africa. The session highlighted the value of dialogue across the supply chain and presented GALILEO’s Living Lab approach as a practical framework for locally grounded agroecological solutions.
Next Steps
GALILEO partners will soon gather in Ghana for the 3rd plenary meeting to discuss progress and future activities on (i) the finalisation of initial country based reports and toolkits addressing institutional and policy bottlenecks for agroforestry, (ii) the preparation and launch of pilot agroforestry plots across all Living Labs, (iii) the start of coordinated biophysical climate and biodiversity data collection in pilot sites, and (iv) the initiation of socioeconomic surveys focusing on livelihoods, income and resilience linked to agroforestry systems.
