In Sub-Saharan Africa, informal food vendors suffer from high levels of physical strain at work and are not engaged in workplace health promotion programs. In order to address this, the Authors conducted a study to determine the level of discomfort experienced by street food vendors in Harare and Bulawayo, and came up with some basic and cheap ergonomic solutions. A mixed methods participatory approach was implemented involving a baseline assessment (n=412) based on standard ergonomic tools, focus groups and co-design workshops, followed by a comparative evaluation (n=204). A $18.70 package was co-designed by vendors using local materials that includes an adjustable cooking platform, a padded load carrier, an anti-fatigue mat, and a peer led postural education program. Baseline assessment identified that 78.4% of vendors had high levels of physical strain, mainly in the lower back, neck and shoulders and 87.3% of tasks were identified as being at high postural risk. After 6 months of implementation, the prevalence of discomfort in the active group had reduced by 43.3% (34.2% less than in the control group; p<0.001). In addition, there were significant reductions in mean postural risk scores and improvements in work ability. This designed package has significantly lowered postural risk, physical strain and work ability, at just a small fraction of a month's median income. These can be effective, participatory, and community-based solutions that are accessible to the informal sector and can be an effective model for integrating occupational health support.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are essential to the innovation, productivity and economic development of developing countries, especially. It is crucial that new knowledge is continually generated and skills developed that are relevant to the current economy, which is necessary to continue economic progress and promote long-term development. Innovation and entrepreneurship is the backbone of sustainable development. In this context, universities and other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to build up the graduates with adequate knowledge, practical skills, technological capacities and technology and society relationship competencies to facilitate the continuous process of economic transformation. There have been three pillars of the Zimbabwe higher education system in the past: teaching, research and community engagement. But, these pillars did not always yield graduates with the skills necessary to meet the demands of the economy in the real world and in the process of change. This led to the development of Education 5.0, which added two more pillars to the traditional one: innovation and industrialisation. The new philosophy of education aimed to cultivate graduates with the ability to translate their knowledge to innovative products, technologies and sustainable solutions to the challenges of the real world. Notwithstanding this progressive policy change, there are still challenges in the implementation and effectiveness of STEM education. In particular, the current STEM education system has failed to meet its goal of producing self-sufficient, innovative and entrepreneurial graduates. The findings of this study thus emphasize the need to significantly redesign and revamp STEM education with deliberate embedment of innovation and entrepreneurship in the design, delivery, and outcomes. To meet this requirement, a new Sustainable Education Model is presented that provides a re-engineered educational model aimed at enhancing the learning outcomes of entrepreneurial competencies, fostering innovation and producing graduates who are able to create sustainable solutions to various challenges of society and the economy.