**4. Cooperation processes in research, teaching and extension**

Much of the knowledge produced at the university is unknown to society and part of what is produced may not meet their needs. It is assumed that, in the face of multiple crises (economics, health, environmental, ethics ...), it is necessary to create mechanisms for the dialog between the academic community among its peers and with the actors of the different scenarios where life happens. It is necessary to seek favorable scenarios for the production and dissemination of knowledge and the insertion of the academic community in actions to promote local development and well-being. Food systems are intimately and potentially inserted in the processes of local development and guarantee of rights to health and well-being.

The insertion of academic practices in the territory not only promotes and strengthens actions to promote environments favorable to local development, healthy and sustainable inclusive food systems, but also qualifies the teaching process. The presence of the academy can permeate all scenarios of the food system and the policies that support it, putting into practice specific skills of the researcher, in a contextualized way in reality, without replacing other roles, such as the role of providing, promoting, defending the right to food.

Academic practices that promote local development emphasize traditional knowledge and the empowerment of disadvantaged minorities, including women, traditional peoples and communities. In times of uncertainty, an issue as global as food and nutrition can make the most of social participation processes, with the aim of transforming reality.

The universal guarantee of the right to adequate food presents itself as one of the greatest challenges for humanity, whether due to inequities in access, or due to the not-so-distant threat of depletion of natural resources [11] and, even more, the limitations for propose and develop processes for evaluating its performance, due to the multiplicity of factors.

In this way, participatory processes [12] gain relevance to promote the insertion of research in the local social, political, economic and environmental dynamics for a better understanding of the situation and the vulnerability processes in which it is established. The second element refers to the need to place individuals as political *Networking and Participatory Research Promoting Quality of Life and Well-Being… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97730*

subjects, building their own knowledge, in order to develop coping strategies and claim their rights.

These arguments are consistent with the principles of participatory research, which seeks to involve research actors as agents and owners of their own knowledge, able to analyze their problems and develop their own solutions [13]. It seeks to "place the control of knowledge in the hands of groups and collectivities that express collective learning both in their conscience and commitment to collective action" [14].

In our view, the starting point must always be the reality of the territory from different perspectives and levels of intervention. Intersectoriality, interdisciplinarity, systemic thinking and the dialog of knowledge are taken as a basis. This approach may need tools to systematize and organize information.

Food and Nutrition Security is multisectoral and transdisciplinary and benefits from all types of research. However, participatory inter/transdisciplinary research is able to synthesize knowledge and produce innovation/transformation. Participating research should not be confused with extension, although it occurs in extension scenarios. This research follows a method and its results are validated by the logic of academic production. It is about making research meaningful, bringing it closer to issues of interest to society, having it as an ally. At CPLP University Mechanism, it is assumed that the exchange of experiences, collaborative work and the effective participation of the academy in Food Sovereign and Food and Nutrition Security public policies promote the research skills and the necessary subsidies for sustainable, healthy, fair and inclusive food systems.

The transformation of food systems and more inclusive ways of food production and trade are at the heart of global discussions, identified as challenges to a more sustainable and healthy life on the planet. This discussion went from ideas and theories to the agenda of decision makers around the world. The current food systems, despite technological advances, high productivity in agriculture, livestock and the diversity of food supplied by industry, available in supermarkets and other establishments, do not guarantee the health of the consumer or the food on everyone's table. Hunger and obesity are on this agenda, as are the processes of production and distribution of food that are sustainable and inclusive [15].

The concept of the food system is very broad and represents an integrating and meaning-producing element in this field of knowledge and practices. The food system articulates the analysis of different food activities and covers the flow of food without neglecting the actors involved. Thus, the sowing, harvesting, production, distribution and consumption processes are perceived in an interconnected manner and based on existing relationships. As food moves from side to side and is transformed, it is necessary to consider the existence of subjects above all.

Under the reference of right to adequate food, as a universal right [1], food sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security policies as the banner of the dispute, as well as the right to produce, contribute to the construction of more just, sustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems that promote health. At the center of this discussion are the thinkers who support the logic of endogenous development, social technologies, solidary economics, emancipatory critical education, science to the south and university extension itself [16].

The transformation of food systems puts us before a paradigm shift, leading us to rethink our technologies to find new answers. More than that, it leads us to innovate and reinvent ourselves in our research questions. It makes us aware that it will be necessary to transform academic practice, from transdisciplinary perspectives. CPLP University Mechanism works in a proposal for action based on the inseparability of teaching-research-extension, which seeks to integrate the production of

technological solutions with training practices, adopting collaborative networks as a strategy to solve complex problems.

The insertion of food sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security on the government policy agenda, as well as the development of efficient and effective processes in the governance of these policies are the great challenges for the sustainability of food systems, the guarantee of the human right to food, health and well-being suitable for all.

Within the context of the CPLP Food and Nutritional Security Council, a great effort has been made to strengthen the governance of these policies among member countries by creating laws and public policy councils with a view to engaging everyone. The academy has been called upon to participate in these processes acting directly on public policies, promoting innovation or training processes (**Figure 3**).

In the context of public policies, academy can contribute by generating evidence from research and knowledge that already exists, advising management processes, engaging in advocacy processes for the interests of sections of the less favored population, and promoting consensus through appropriate methodologies; it can, within the territories, promote innovation by generating technologies and, finally; promoting training processes for technical staff, developing information and training activities for the population, seeking to generate changes in behavior and skills in favor of the well-being and quality of life of the population (**Figure 4**).

The engagement of academy in public policy processes is determined by historical, cultural and conjunctural issues. And in this case, the actions of international organizations, for example, the Food and Nutrition Security Council of CPLP and FAO facilitate the process. Below we present how the members of the University Mechanism got involved and perceive the process in their countries.

### **4.1 Angola**

Individual's life passes and develops in a time and space, being determined by social actions and behaviors for which a certain education is necessary as a process of transmitting social meanings in a society. Angolan society is in a constant process of change; this includes intellectual economic, social, and educational needs, among others that make up the well-being of societies.

Participation in CPLP University Mechanism has been favorable because through this mechanism, the university has the possibility to share and acquire knowledge related to food sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security as well as the transmission or dissemination of this information in different areas of society. The mechanism has been arousing interest in the issue of Food and Nutrition Security, as it is a topic that most Angolans are still unaware of.

**Figure 3.** *Guidelines for the performance of the academy in public policies.*

*Networking and Participatory Research Promoting Quality of Life and Well-Being… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97730*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Performance of the academy in public policies.*

Inclusive and participatory research is a fundamental factor because through this, we seek community involvement in the analysis and resolution of problems in their own reality, developing and creating strong bonds, avoiding gaps between researchers, teachers, government entities and members of society in general. In this sense, the university, through extension, has sought to collaborate to the maximum extent with the communities to identify potential problems, the elaboration of an action plan that aims to put an end to the problems now identified.

In Angola, the government has created programs aimed at fighting hunger and poverty, although in many cases it has not been implemented for different reasons. In the current context, the government created the program to support production, export diversification and import substitution (PRODESI), aiming at the acceleration of national (local) production and the creation of wealth, generating employment opportunities within the communities and consequently the generation of a reasonable family income. PRODESI has a great potential for participatory actions involving the University.

Angolan researchers at CPLP University Mechanism believe that greater interaction between public authorities, academia and civil society is important in order to have a country with policies designed and focused on social well-being, where the right to food is a fundamental element.

#### **4.2 Brazil – Ceará and Bahia**

The University of Afro-Brazilian Lusophone Integration (UNILAB), one of the universities that make up the University Participation Mechanism at CPLP University Mechanism, is a young institution that is inserted in the context of internationalization and interiorization, as an expansion strategy and democratizing access to higher education in Brazil and in the CPLP countries. Located in northeastern Brazil, it operates in two different territories - Maciço do Baturité, state of Ceará and Recôncavo Baiano, in Bahia, with the principles of solidarity cooperation among Portuguese-speaking peoples as its north.

In this context, the integration of UNILAB in CPLP University Mechanism meets the vocation of a University in strong harmony with the demands of the territories where it is inserted, as well as the other Portuguese-speaking countries, in which there are formal cooperation processes. However, about the theme of Food and Nutrition Security, although it permeated the actions developed in teaching research and extension, especially in the Agronomy graduation course,

#### **Figure 5.**

*Training process involving theory and practice in agroforestry systems training (Redenção-CE, Brazil, 2019).*

**Figure 6.** *Traditional cassava plantation in the Recôncavo Bahiano region, Brazil, 2019.*

#### *Networking and Participatory Research Promoting Quality of Life and Well-Being… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97730*

there was no conceptual appropriation that would lead to the understanding that the construction of Food and Nutrition Security is relevant to different areas of the knowledge. Based on the project to Strengthen Teaching, Research and Extension for Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security in the CPLP and at the UNILAB, developed by the Pro-Rectory of Institutional Relations with resources from the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications, there was an expansion of the debate on Food and Nutrition Security at the University and the integration of professors and researchers from different areas in addition to those related to agrarian sciences.

In the context of the project, in addition to the Summer Schools and Technical Mission, the aforementioned Specialization in Food and Nutrition Security was carried out, promoting the solidary participation of researchers from the institution. It should be noted that the moments of face-to-face meetings in the countries are of paramount importance for the construction of the activities to be carried out by the group, in addition to giving prominence and visibility to local researchers. In Bahia, activities are developed between the university and the surrounding communities, regarding the reconstruction of traditional cassava fields. A process of continuous training in Agroforestry Systems was carried out in Ceará, involving students from the UNILAB Agronomy graduation course, together with EMBRAPA Agroindustry Tropical, in addition to the participation of teachers in Participating Research in Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security (short course developed by partner UNESP). All actions have resonance in the territories, to the extent that they are appropriated by different actors and translate into course completion works, participation in scientific events and a pedagogical environment for building changes in the local reality. It is worth remembering that in the context of Food and Nutrition Security Council of the CPLP, there is recognition of the importance of agroecology and family and peasant agriculture as strategic in promoting Food and Nutrition Security, especially in rural areas, where most of the actions developed in the context of CPLP University Mechanism are concentrated (**Figures 5** and **6**). In Brazil, the development of a post-doctorate to be carried out in Guinea-Bissau and research on Food and Nutrition Security in Cape Verde are underway.

#### **4.3 Brazil – São Paulo**

UNESP (State University of São Paulo "Júlio de Mesquita Filho") is a free, public, multicampus university that has been a member of CPLP University Mechanism since 2015. It was founded in 1976 and today represents one of the most important universities in Brazil, being among the top three of the State of São Paulo.

The Center for Science, Technology and Innovation in Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security - INTERSSAN (http://interssan.com.br/) is coordinated by the Integrated Teaching, Research and Extension Group at UNESP, which is responsible for activities with the academic network of CPLP University Mechanism. In this network, INTERSSAN shares with UNILAB the coordination of the work agenda, organizing monthly online meetings in order to the execute the work plan with Food and Nutrition Security Council. Besides that, it has received students from partner universities in its postgraduate programs and participated in the discussion for the creation of postgraduate programs in partner universities. It manages the Moodle platform to offer distance learning courses at the graduate level or to disseminate knowledge. It has also articulated bibliographic productions in co-authorship.

The involvement in the training processes of CPLP University Mechanism, as well as research and extension, has strengthened the work of INTERSSAN researchers, providing the exercise of teaching and research processes in the critical and

participatory logic. As an example, the orientation of the course conclusion work in the UNESP/Zambeze University partnership involved around 30 researchers from UNESP. Another example was the development of educational material for children (**Figure 7**).
