Cities and local governments at the forefront in building inclusive and resilient food systems

FAO

Cities and local governments at the forefront in building inclusive and resilient food systems

Key results from the FAO Survey “Urban Food Systems and COVID-19", Revised version

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 17 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

ISBN 978-92-5-133097-5

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting urban food systems worldwide, affecting the food security and nutrition of urban populations. With up to 70% of the global food supply destined for urban consumption, the disruption of urban food systems has particularly affected the food distribution and the food retail sectors. The management of the crisis by city and local governments can therefore play a major role in preventing the spread of the virus and, at the same time, in mitigating the disruptions in their food systems and any negative effects on vulnerable populations. It was consequently deemed very important for FAO to map the municipal responses to the emergency, and to analyze progress and setbacks in managing disruptions in the urban food systems and related implications for food security and nutrition. Such understanding will strengthen the evidence-base on which countries will build policies and programmes dealing with the crisis and its effects. It will also provide valuable information on how to strengthen the performance and resilience of urban food systems. In an effort to better understand how city and local governments faced the challenges of food systems disruptions associated with COVID-19, information was collected through a survey of relevant stakeholders. The survey questionnaire was administered between April and May 2020 . 860 urban actors returned the completed questionnaire, 56% of which were members of local governments while the rest of the respondents were members of academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and national governments.

See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2020. Cities and local governments at the forefront in building inclusive and resilient food systems: Key results from the FAO Survey “Urban Food Systems and COVID-19", Revised version. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cb0407en

Language English

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Cities and Local Governments at the forefront - Key results from the FAO Survey “Urban Food Systems and COVID-19”
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The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting urban food systems worldwide, affecting the food security and nutrition of urban populations. It was consequently deemed very important for FAO to map the municipal responses to the emergency, and to analyze progress and setbacks in managing disruptions in the urban food systems and related implications for food security and nutrition. In an effort to better understand how city and local governments faced the challenges of food systems disruptions associated with COVID-19, information was collected through a survey of relevant stakeholders. The survey questionnaire was administered between April and May 2020 . 860 urban actors returned the completed questionnaire, 56% of which were members of local governments while the rest of the respondents were members of academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and national governments. This presentation shows the main results of this survey.
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Enhancing Sustainability and Resilience to Effects of Climate Change in City Region Food Systems - GCP/INT/275/GER 2022

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Today, about 55 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 percent by 2050. The majority of this growth will be in Africa and Southeast Asia. The rapid urbanization and the estimated nine billion world population by 2050 creates enormous challenges to conventional food production and food and nutrition security. At the same time, climate change is posing additional challenges, affecting cities and their surrounding areas. The number of reported climate shocks and stresses (such as droughts, floods, storms, etc.) has almost doubled in the last two decades. An increase in climate change related risks is affecting processes, key infrastructures and stakeholders along the entire food system, in particular, the most vulnerable food system actors. Increasing food prices resulting from disruptions in production and transport directly impact consumers, especially low income groups in city regions that are highly dependent on purchased food. Cities are requesting support to plan interventions to make food systems more sustainable, inclusive and resilient to shocks and stresses, with strong rural urban linkages, including and emphasizing the role of small scale farmers, scaling up resilient and sustainable practices and improving the food system in a holistic manner. The COVID 19 pandemic has added new challenges in meeting the food demands of city region populations, and food chains have been disrupted, worsening already precarious conditions in vulnerable areas. Those traditionally vulnerable have been particularly affected, while new vulnerabilities have also been created. Against this background, the city region food systems (CRFS) programme was established. The programme has been demonstrating its effectiveness in strengthening rural urban linkages and integrating sectors for a more sustainable and resilient food system. The need now is to combine the assessment work based on past and present data with future scenarios on multiple shocks and stresses in the city region contexts.
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2020

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Cities, with their high population density, are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and many cities in developing countries do not have adequate capacity to address the disruptions caused by the response to the health emergency. The risk is particularly high for the 1.2 billion people living in the congested and overcrowded informal urban settlements where conditions are already unsafe and unhealthy for human living. The very poor and those living in slums have extremely limited access to essential health and sanitation facilities, nutritious food and adequate infrastructure such as piped clean water and electricity. The spread of the virus in crowded cities could have extensive morbidity and mortality consequences for urban populations. The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting urban food systems worldwide, posing a number of challenges for cities and local governments that are obliged to deal with rapid changes in food availability, accessibility and affordability – which strongly impact the food security and nutrition situation of urban populations. The majority of the urban population in developing countries relies on informal sector activities and casual labour including those related to food systems (street food vendors and those working in wet markets) and have access to limited or no assets or savings. Policies to limit the effects of the virus such as lockdowns, or physical distancing can spell disaster for the livelihoods of those individuals and their families leading, inter alia, to food insecurity and deficient nutrition.