The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges
What will be needed to realize the vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition? After shedding light on the nature of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are facing now and throughout the 21st century, the study provides insights into what is at stake and what needs to be done....
Food consumption, urbanisation and rural transformations in Southeast Asia
By 2050, nearly 63 per cent of the total population of Southeast Asia is expected to live in urban areas. Not only is urbanisation profoundly changing urban-rural relations, it is also shifting patterns of food consumption. Governments in the region are modernising food systems, in part to meet the...
Urbanisation, changing tastes and rural transformation in West Africa
Between 1950 and 2000, the total population of West Africa increased fourfold, with almost one third now living in urban centres. Alongside growing urbanisation, many countries in the region increasingly rely on food imports for certain staples. These imports mix with local and regional foods to...
Food consumption, urbanisation and rural transformation: the trade dimensions
Growing urban demand for food – which now constitutes about 60–70 per cent of food consumption in Asia and more than half in Africa – is met largely by trade. This paper reviews evidence for what this trade means for rural areas, and for successful rural economic transformation. It also reviews...
Food systems at the rural-urban interface
Promoting better market access and market performance for smallholder agricultural producers and the provision of access to better quality and lower price food for the majority of the world’s population requires the strengthening of rural-urban linkages and putting ‘place-based development’ at the...
Why food remittances matter: rural-urban linkages and food security in Africa
The transfer of funds by migrants to their home countries (cash remittances) is at an all-time high. By 2017, it is predicted to rise to US$500 billion – and there is a growing policy consensus that cash remittances can be mainstreamed into development. Equally, food remitting also has a role to...
Call for experiences and effective policy approaches in addressing food security and nutrition in the context of changing rural-urban dynamics
The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is inviting short summaries of experiences and policy approaches in addressing food security and nutrition in the context of urbanization and rural transformation.
Urbanisation, rural transformations and food systems: the role of small towns
Small towns are an essential but often-neglected element of rural landscapes and food systems. They perform a number of essential functions, from market nodes to providers of services and goods and non-farm employment to their own population as well as that of the wider surrounding region. In...
In Brief: Pulses for food security and nutrition: How can their full potential be tapped?
FSN Forum brief based on the online discussions Pulses are praised for their health, environmental and economic benefits. How can their full potential be tapped? and Pulses: innovations from the field to the cooking pot, which were held from 25 May to 19 June 2016 and from 14 October to 4 November...