FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Urban and peri-urban agriculture promoted to meet the challenges of rapid urbanization

14/07/2015 Bangkok, Thailand

Agricultural production in urban and peri-urban areas of Asia could help strengthen the future of food security and nutrition for the region’s growing urban populations, a regional consultation co-organized by FAO and AIT heard today.  

The Regional Consultation on “Strengthening Food and Nutrition Security of the Urban People through Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture” is taking place today and tomorrow at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) near Bangkok. Government representatives from 17 countries in Asia and technical experts will share their experiences and identify and agree on priority actions and policy options. 

“Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific is happening faster than predicted,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. “Fifty percent of the world’s population now live in cities, and for Asia and the Pacific that figure could rise to around 63 percent by 2050.This shift will result in changes to living conditions and consumption patterns.”

“By 2025 many countries in Asia-Pacific might be considered ‘middle income’ and it’s predicted that the region’s middle income population will grow three fold by 2020 and six fold by 2030, led largely by the most populous countries China, India and Indonesia,” Konuma said. “As people grow richer, this will lead to increased demand for higher protein foods and fruits and vegetables as well as for quality and safety of foods.”

Urban and peri-urban agriculture could help meet this demand Konuma said, but it would need to be approached carefully. “If we plan well towards a ‘green city’ approach we may be able to manage this but we need to carefully consider waste management, transport and supplies issues,” he added. 

The regional consultation has heard that several countries have managed to achieve remarkable success and their success stories need to be replicated in other countries, where possible. Urban and peri-urban agriculture can help significantly reduce transport costs and post-harvest losses as the food is produced so much closer to market.

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