Implementation of Living Labs for Circular Agrifood Innovation Across Six African Countries

Abstract Rapid urbanisation and vulnerable rural–urban food supply chains have intensified interest in circular agri-food innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa. Living Labs are widely promoted as collaborative environments for developing and testing such innovations, yet empirical evidence on how they are established and operated under resource-constrained conditions remains scarce. This paper examines eight Living Labs implemented across six African countries within the Horizon Europe INCiTiS-FOOD project, drawing on three years of implementation plans, progress reports, onboarding records and technology validation reports. Using an exploratory qualitative multi-case design, the analysis identifies recurring implementation patterns and organisational features. Living Lab development did not follow a predefined pathway but proceeded through an iterative sequence of anchoring, sensemaking, structuring and iteration. A shared aquaponic prototype functioned as a boundary object that catalysed stakeholder engagement before governance structures and shared conceptual understanding had fully formed. Structured and continuous capacity building supported technical competence, but organisational learning remained vulnerable where knowledge was concentrated in individual staff rather than embedded in documentation, mentoring and organisational routines. Innovation outputs developed into portfolios combining system-level Minimum Viable Products with practice-level innovations. The findings extend existing Living Lab frameworks by highlighting the catalytic role of physical demonstration systems, structured capacity building as an organisational capability, and the changing contribution of Quadruple Helix actors over the Living Lab life cycle. They provide an operational framework for implementing circular agri-food Living Labs under resource-constrained conditions.