The 13th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), is currently being held in Berlin, Germany from 18-22 January 2021. The forum’s theme is ‘How to feed the world in times of pandemics and climate change’. On 19 January 2021, a side event was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and RUAF to share experiences and review how the City Region Food System (CRFS) approach has helped urban and national representatives deal with COVID-19, as well as define a vision on the way forward.

For the opening remarks, Ms. Susanne Schlaack (Head of Division, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Germany), highlighted the significance and efficiency of the work that FAO and its global partners implemented in the area of sustainable food systems on various dimensions, such as food governance, natural resource management, and integrated coordination among multiple players, to meet the challenges of climate change and pandemics. She also indicated the importance of the Farm to Fork Strategy ("From stable to table") and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to create a reliable, sustainable and resilient food system that also takes into account the interdependencies between the health of the population and environmental limits. “Germany aims to create a sustainable and resilient CRFS within and out of the country and looks forward to continue collaborating with FAO on this area”, concluded Ms. Schlaack.

During the following panel presentations, city and country representatives shared their experiences and lessons on how local CRFS approaches have responded to climate shocks and the pandemic. 

Toronto, Canada used the CRFS toolkit to identify boundaries, build scenarios, make policies, and establish food hub and distribution centers accordingly. Ultimately aiming towards a more resilient and effective urban food system. 

In the video message from Madagascar and presentation of Antananarivo, it was stated that climate shocks, such as droughts and floods, as well as COVID-19 had huge impacts on local food systems. The video also highlighted the importance a CRFS plays in building resilience. Particular aspects included value chains, rural-urban linkages, response and mechanism alignment, stakeholder advisory groups, multiple response and data sharing, common indicator identification and involvement in global discussions. 

Quito, Ecuador introduced its risk management system-PAQ (Quito’s AgriFood Covenant), which allowed the Municipality of Quito to support local food security improvements. Quito conducted assessments on various projects to learn more about the status on food insecurity and relevant solutions (donation, food bank, etc.). 

Melbourne, Australia suffered from extreme climate shocks and consequences (water scarcity, fire, etc.) for many years, and has been working on building resilient urban food systems through initiatives such as the Resilient City Foodbowl and practices including backyard and community agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas. Melbourne also shared its lessons, including preparation for ‘compound’ impacts of multiple shocks and stresses. Key points focused on  building long term resilience on CRFS including multiple co-benefits, strong stakeholder and community networks across the CRFS and embedding systems of food relief in a Right to Food framework.

During the Q&A section, panel members shared their thoughts on building a more resilient CRFS, including: 1) creating innovative food governance through multi-stakeholder involvement, 2) strengthening food value chain through various players (farmers, consumers, transporter and processers) on board, and 3) developing urban agriculture through farmers accessing to markets and food flowing during pandemic. 

“Cities are at the frontlines against the pandemic, and a CRFS plays a vital role in building back better”, panel members concluded at the end of the session.

See the side event recording, please click here.

See GFFA high level panel, click here.

See FAO news, click here.