The 3rd International Conference on Global Food Security: Global Challenges, Local Solutions and Connected Pathways took place between 3-6 December 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. The convenors of the conference were Elsevier in association with the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security along with the Universities of Pretoria and the Western Cape.

​A team from SALSA led by Karlheinz Knickel contributed to this conference by organising a symposium on “Small farms and their contribution to sustainable food and nutritional security: a transdisciplinary analysis of food systems in European and African regions”. The contributions included an introduction into the project made by María Rivera Méndez (UÉvora/ICAAM), a food systems mapping exercise led by Eirini Irianna Vlachopoulou (James Hutton Institute), a presentation on first insights from four European regions delivered by Mark Redman (Highclere Consulting) and on three African regions by Marie Rarieya and Elsa Barbosa Simões. Karlheinz Knickel summarised the initial insights from European and African regions with some key discussion points.

​The symposium was attended by well over 65 participants from across the world contributing to a lively discussion with the SALSA team.