Forum global sur la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition (Forum FSN)

As members of the SDC supported Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project that works in secondary cities in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda, we have prepared our inputs to the this consultation. We acknowledge the need for a report on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition. We agree on the importance of policies that address poverty and inequality, build resilience and social inclusion and foster sustainable livelihoods. Thorough discussion of the different types of urban areas (e.g. megacities, towns in largely rural areas) and the linkages between them are key, as is the role of secondary cities, where the majority of urbanization is taking place. Many thanks for the chance to contribute and best of luck for developing the report!

Share your comments on the objectives and proposed content of this report:

Do you find the proposed scope comprehensive to analyze and discuss the key issues concerning the role of urban and peri-urban food systems in achieving food security and nutrition? Are there any major gaps or omissions?

We acknowledge the need for a report on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition. We agree on the importance of policies that address poverty and inequality, build resilience and social inclusion and foster sustainable livelihoods. Thorough discussion of the different types of urban areas (e.g. megacities, towns in largely rural areas) and the linkages between them are key, as is the role of secondary cities, where the majority of urbanization is taking place. We do ask that secondary cities, characterized by rural as well as urban components, should be given attention in this report. See also this publication: Secondary Cities as Catalysts for Nutritious Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries | SpringerLink

Additionally to the outline presented, we would like to emphasize on the importance to also take the following topics into consideration:

1. To address not only the production/distribution side of food security and nutrition, but also the consumer perspective. Moving out of a farming household and into an urban area often results in a pronounced shift away from traditional staples such as rice, millet or pulses towards more convenient and often high-processed foods such as pasta, bread, or high-sugar foods. This is the result of a combination of factors including changes in lifestyles (see Cockx L, Colen L, De Weerdt J. From corn to popcorn? Urbanization and dietary change: Evidence from rural-urban migrants in Tanzania. World Development. 2018; 110:140-59), and changing perceptions of typical, and locally grown food.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has had much success with the Nutrition for All project, and the concept of “triggering”. Indeed, Social Behavior Change Communications that are prepared with city leadership and pay attention to gender and age differentials, are a profane means to raise awareness on the nutritional and environmental benefits of many different foods typical for rural areas as well as for food typically seen as upper-class food e.g. eggs. Food and nutrition literacy emphasizing the ability of individuals to learn adequate food use, still seem to be insufficient to overcome these socio-economic obstacles.

1. In many secondary cities, most citizens are still having access to farmland (even if only a few acres) and are still partly self-sustaining. There is scope to further reflect on the links between nutrition and agroecology. See the following Commentary: Nutrition as a driver and outcome of agroecology | Nature Food
2. A One-Health component would enhance the report emphasizing the interconnectedness of production, consumption, health, environment etc.
3. Attention is needed to actively strengthen the multisectoral organizational, managerial, technical, and networking capacities of all food system stakeholders, and make the transition of food systems more inclusive. The prioritization of women and youth as important actors in the transformation of food systems is essential e.g. as mostly responsible for child nutrition although often not actively involved in cultivation decisions, while also facing challenges in current power imbalances and inequities in access to resources and decision-making. There is also a body of evidence on how women’s participation in agroecological networks (especially in short supply chains) helped them to lift themselves out of violent situations of isolation and to affirm their own identity and knowledge (e.g. Galvão Freire A. Women in Brazil build Autonomy with Agroecology. Farming Matters. 2018;34 (1):22-5 or Van der Ploeg J. The New Peasantries: Rural Development in Times of Globalization. Earthscan Food and Agriculture. 2018.

Share good practices and successful experiences on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems in the context of urbanization and rural transformation, including in the case of emergencies or conflicts

We recommend considering recent policy developments as for example Nairobi’s County Food System Strategy and Policy into consideration. Multisectoral Nutrition or Food Systems Coordination committees or respective Policy Councils are in place in many cities. The Rikolto project has an insightful tool on how to set-up multisectoral nutrition or food systems platforms and the advocacy needs for such platforms (“Rikolto Multistakeholer Process Facilitation Toolkit”). Interesting work is also being done in the Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project: Frontiers | Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE): Protocol of a multi-sectoral development project to improve food and nutrition security of secondary city populations in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda (frontiersin.org)

Share recent literature, case studies and data that could help answer the following questions:

1. What are the main bottlenecks hampering the contribution of urban and peri-urban food systems to food security and nutrition?

The lack of overview about how produce flows and changes hands to reach city markets, including considerations of the food environment and what is competing with the fresh produce (with an understanding of prices), and considerations of the state as a consumer (public procurement etc.)

1. How can urban and peri-urban food systems be transformed and made more equitable and accessible both for food system actors and in terms of food security and nutrition outcomes?

City consumers with some means can be targeted by SBCC and a market systems approach, but attention also needs to be given to vulnerable city populations that lack the means to buy nutritious food and time for cooking and preparation.

1. How can urban food supply chains, formal and informal, local and global, be made more resilient to ensure food security and nutrition within urban settings?

Charles Chigemezu Nwokoro, Sophie van den Berg, Aleksandra Wybieralska, Elizabeth Imbo, Marnie Pannatier, Jimena Monroy, Cornelia Speich, Kesso Gabrielle van Zutphen, Tanja Barth-Jaeggi, Dominique Barjolle. (2023). Farm resilience assessment using FAO’s adapted SHARP+ tool in Busia County, Kenya. [under review].

Valarezo D, Barjolle D, Habumugisha S, Agroecological inherence of coffee agro-systems and their impact on sustainable production [under review].

1. What changes are needed in urban planning to better support all dimensions of food security – including support for human rights, agency and sustainability? Which are some of the measures that can strengthen the agency of local actors in urban and peri-urban food systems? 

Important to raise awareness and increase capacity in foods systems, with, for example, local government health and agriculture officials familiar with the situation of local farmers, producers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and vice versa

1. How can national and municipal governments strengthen the potential for low-carbon, inclusive, relatively self-sufficient and resilient cities and towns to drive improved food security and nutrition in the wake of climate change and other crises?
2. What are the most appropriate policies (and gaps in existing policies) along the rural-urban continuum to address issues of land tenure, urban expansion into farmland and the growing competition for natural resources?
3. How can urban and peri-urban food systems ensure that food and nutrition needs of specific groups of people, such as migrants, the internally-displaced, children, adolescent, etc., are met?

Targeted approaches are needed to work with city education, health and social welfare departments, as well as with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that have the trust and unique access to the more vulnerable members of these groups. Channeling nutritious foods into the public procurement system including school feeding programmes, social protection initiatives, hospitals and prisons can make an important difference.

1. What are the potential benefits and challenges of territorial markets for strengthening food security and nutrition for urban populations?
2. In what ways can the incorporation of climate resilient agricultural and circular economy practices in urban and peri-urban agriculture provide climate co-benefits for all and enhance climate resilience?
3. How can citizens be engaged and empowered to drive inclusive, transparent, participatory processes for urban transformations, ensuring synergies and complementarity with city councils?

In the NICE project civil society organisations (women’s associations, youth groups), consumer associations as well as farmers and local businesses are engaging in multisectoral platforms as well as different government line ministries

1. Which experiences of urban communities to increase access to fresh food and healthy diets can inspire broader public policies?

We recommend to also consider kitchen garden initiatives promoting original, well adapted food, such as described by Wasike et al., 2018 Linking Farmers, Indigenous Vegetables and Schools to Improve Diets and Nutrition in Busia County, Kenya

Arianna Francioni – Regional Urban Preparedness Coordinator / Urban Workstream Focal Point

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) - Regional Office Johannesburg

Do you find the proposed scope comprehensive to analyze and discuss the key issues concerning the role of urban and peri-urban food systems in achieving food security and nutrition? Are there any major gaps or omissions?

The scope of the report is comprehensive, however, the following areas have been identified for possible expansion:

Leverage Connectivity in Urban Areas to shorten then producer/consumer distance: information delivery and digital technology platforms can facilitate communication, marketing and distribution of foods produced by local smallholder farmers to interested urban consumers. Advocacy and advertising of these platforms would be needed. Internet connectivity and telecommunication coverage would make this possible and easier than in rural areas.

Use of tech for food storage and safety: smart integration of technology can help create sustainable urban food ecosystems (UFEs). For example, blockchain technology is becoming increasingly integrated in the food supply chain to enhance traceability and safety. With blockchain food traceability systems, every step of the journey from farm to consumer can be recorded and easily accessed, thus helping to effectively contain contamination outbreaks, enabling people to trace a product within seconds instead of weeks, creating an auditable trail of accurate data in a tamper-resistant way, and significantly lowers costs.

Importance of nutrition education for behavioral change and increase consumption of healthy foods: to open more and more market opportunities for healthy foods in urban areas, especially amongst the most vulnerable often used to consume heavily processed foods for reasons of storage capacity and affordability, change consumers' purchasing and eating habits is key. Nutrition education especially focused on children, youth, and women, coupled with healthy school meals and integrated into a broader perspective with health, hygiene and environmental education, should be the foundation of any initiative related to food systems in urban areas.

Rural/coastal – urban linkages: the intersection between urban with rural and coastal spaces should be investigated to understand how potentially urban and peri-urban spaces can drive changes in the behavior of consumers that then encourage investment across the value chain and impact on rural production which would continue to need to produce and adapt for cities and towns. This would include looking at what level of investment within value chain development in urban and peri-urban spaces can drive the creation of jobs, industry and consumer demand for products that are produced within these locations or add value to rural production. Urban and peri-urban centers that have coastal connections should be furtherly studied in order to understand how sustainable fisheries would need to be included in the idea of the circular economy.

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Share good practices and successful experiences on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems in the context of urbanization and rural transformation, including in the case of emergencies or conflicts.

The cases below listed have not been directly implemented by WFP but they have been identified as good practices through thematic literature for the purpose of this e-consultation.

Urban food programmes benefit from an institutional home. Depending on which urban food system approach may be prevalent in a Country (e.g. Nationally influenced approaches guided by strong national policies, programmes and plans, City-led approaches driven by civil society, dynamic mayors and city councils, who set an agenda in response to concrete urban problems, Hybrid Approaches, benefit from a combination of the two approaches, meshing strong municipal government and civil society leadership with national policy and financial support), urban food programmes benefit from an institutional home.  Local governments may embed food units in diverse municipal departments, may create dedicated food divisions, units or agencies; they may design interventions implemented by separate departments coordinated by a senior municipal or county official; or they may use informal structures before establishing formal units. Some cities may start out with informal structures (e.g. working groups, committees, task forces) on pilot interventions before deciding to create formal food divisions or departments. Urban food institutions and processes in city-led approaches tended to develop organically and iteratively. Task forces and food units may be established within the Department of Planning: in the city of Toronto, a municipal food policy leader, with a long history working to ensure access to healthy, affordable, sustainable and culturally acceptable food, the Toronto Food Policy Council was established as an advisory committee to report directly to the Board of Health and the Mayor on issues relating to food security. On the other side, in Shanghai, municipal departments or commissions (e.g. commerce, agriculture) design and implement their respective programmes, with coordination provided directly by the Mayor’s office, rather than a separate urban food unit.

The Transformative Impact of Quito’s Resilient Food Security Program. Local food production has become a cornerstone of Quito’s Agrifood resilience work approach, and have already transformed people’s lives. Quito’s transformative planning process is supported, on the one hand, by the civil society sector mobilized through the proposals of the multistakeholder platform Agro-Food Pact of Quito (PAQ), including a draft Food Policy and Action Plan for consideration by the local government. The PAQ prepared and approved a Food Charter for the city that was signed by the Municipality and presented publicly. On the other hand, the city’s planning process is supported by its incorporation of food into city planning instruments such as Quito’s Vision 2040, the Resilience Strategy and the guidelines of the Metropolitan Development and Regulation Plan 2015-2025, and Quito’s Agrifood Strategy. The Strategy aims to address problems related to food insecurity, obesity, diet-related diseases, nutrition, health, environmental and waste management, and generating income and employment opportunities through support to local food value chains and sustainable agriculture to bring local economic development in both rural and urban territories.  Quito has assisted an average of 4,500 people per year, a combination of those receiving urban farming support and the families that benefit directly from these farms, supported the creation of new farms, bringing the total to 1,529 orchards in Quito’s urban, peri-urban, and rural areas—70 of those just between November 2019 and March 2020 (when they conducted the last census). These result in about 640 tons of fresh and healthy food reaching Quito, with more than 11 tons destined specifically for the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. The increase in access to healthy food and diversification of the local food supply chain, coupled with the elevated importance placed on fresh produce, has empowered the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well. For example, the Food Bank of Quito, part of the Agri-food Pact of Quito (PAQ), has distributed over 440,500 Kg of food to over 193,000 people with low incomes. Cross-sectoral collaboration was essential to increasing food system resilience : the emphasis on a new, cross-sectoral collaboration to address urban food issues in Quito has transformed the landscape and potential for future outcomes, including shifting the perspectives and priorities of key organizations in Quito’s food system. It strengthens the longstanding AGRUPAR (Participatory Urban Agriculture) project, by embedding Quito’s food system in the city’s priorities, which helps ensuring it has the resources necessary to address their food challenges, despite municipal budget constraints and the importance of funding COVID-19 response.

Training Human Resources to build Government Capacity in Integrated Planning: eThekwini Municipality and Baltimore.  Increasing the number of staff working on food issues and strengthening the capacities of municipal food units to mobilize and disburse financing facilitates food systems delivery and builds legitimacy. This translates in institutionalize planners, urban policy coordinators and food policy directors, who are indispensable in designing and facilitating policies, programmes and initiatives across food systems and different city agencies. They can help cities design food systems solutions by mediating conflict, facilitating collaboration and making synergistic connections across departments, food systems sectors and government agencies. Effective collaboration requires these food professionals to understand urban planning and development processes, and for urban planners to learn about the perspectives, challenges and opportunities linked with food systems.  For example, South Africa’s eThekwini Municipality established a Municipal Institute of Learning to build local government capacity. Since 2009, it has trained 3600 local government practitioners in strategic planning, water and sanitation, solid waste management and revenue management. The Institute fosters collaboration and learning partnerships and networks with local and international universities, research institutes in Africa and international development agencies and trains urban planners to address issues related to the informal sector, land use planning, governance and food security (Smit, 2016).

Another interesting case is the one of Baltimore, where it was understood that food does not fit squarely within one government agency, so the city hired a full-time Food Policy Director to build stakeholders’ capacity and foster interagency collaboration. The position is based in the Baltimore Department of Planning’s Office of Sustainability, which enables close ties to the mayor, municipal departments, and the multistakeholder platform BFPI, which enables frequent interaction on food issues and the sustainability of the food agenda.

The importance of Monitoring and Evaluation to Track Progress and guide decision making: Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP).  Cities are often challenged to develop monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems because they do not have sufficient human and financial resources to collect the necessary information to construct baselines and track progress. Launched by the Milan Municipality in 2015, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact is an international agreement among cities from all over the world, committed "to develop sustainable food systems that are inclusive, resilient, safe and diverse, that provide healthy and affordable food to all people in a human rights-based framework, that minimize waste and conserve biodiversity while adapting to and mitigating impacts of climate change”.The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) provides a comprehensive indicator framework for cities to benchmark. It highlights six key dimensions with a list of 42 quantitative and qualitative indicators measuring: governance; sustainable diets and nutrition; social and economic equity; food production and rural-urban linkages; food supply and distribution; and food loss and waste.

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1.  What are the main bottlenecks hampering the contribution of urban and peri-urban food systems to food security and nutrition?

Limited Interjurisdictional mechanisms: a system based approach to integrate different levels of government on the territory across multiple municipalities, such as city-region systems stems from the recognition that urban food issues must often be addressed from a larger regional or territorial perspective. The concept of system-based approaches is still nascent in many countries: it promotes integrative and inclusive urban, territorial and rural policy and planning, supporting the analysis of the flow of resources such as people, water, biodiversity and food. This will translate into considering the different scales of urban and rural settlements and the related ecosystem-based interlinkages.

Limited Integration of Food Systems into urban planning: Urban planners may not perceive the benefits of horticulture and so it may be seen as a conflicting activity where only the perceived threats to health are considered. The integration of food into urban development, land-use or sector-specific plans is often the starting point for cities’ urban food interventions. Integration of food issues in urban planning aligns food system goals with broad city goals. Integration of food into municipal department sector plans helps facilitate access to financing and broadens support for food across diverse thematic areas and with a larger and greater variety of public, private and civil society actors.

Limited Cross-sectoral policies and collaborations: mainstreaming urban food systems into health, hygiene, water, waste, environment, and resilience policies and regulatory framework, through ongoing dialogue and collaborations between stakeholders can guarantee an integrated approach to health, food, and urban environment. In this sense, planners should capitalize on the communities’ skills and city authorities should ensure that the appropriate legal, financial, technical and support structures are in place.

Data Gaps and Evidence Generation: The lack of available valid, reliable baseline data in urban areas represents a real problem for cities’ engagement in urban food issues. Cities have a poor understanding and knowledge of many of the basic building blocks of food systems (e.g. knowledge of what consumers are eating, how much food is wasted, urban production systems, costs and capacities for scaling up investments).

Lack of infrastructure: Access of urban and peri-urban growers to resources, like urban organic waste and wastewater, is usually restricted due to government regulations and economic policies that are biased toward large-scale waste management. Recycling of urban waste is often limited by price structures that favor large-scale landfill operations. Unless instruments (taxation, subsidies, etc.) are put in force by central/local government it is difficult for municipalities to afford ecological waste management systems. The correct use of organic solid wastes, stormwater and wastewater for growing food requires technical assistance from professionals to continually monitor safety. Lack of transportation systems, farm-to-market connecting roads, as well as safely managed territorial markets represent further barriers to availability and access of locally grown products. Infrastructure for vertical farming, household level farming infrastructure, storage, and processing equipment at small scale level for the informal sector are also limited and hindering the contribution of urban food systems to food security.

Limited inclusivity and enabling environment to maximize the potential benefits of the informal food sector: well-designed institutional and policy frameworks and an appropriate enabling environment (legal, regulatory, and taxation) are needed to leverage the benefit of the informal food sector in urban and peri-urban areas. In particular, inclusive institutions and cooperation in the design of informal sector regulations are important. In some countries, municipal governments establish independent government bodies to assist and promote the informal sector, serving as a centralized hub for implementing diverse support programmes.

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2.  How can urban and peri-urban food systems be transformed and made more equitable and accessible both for food system actors and in terms of food security and nutrition outcomes?

The operationalization of rural-urban linkages is key to diversifying sources of food supply and improving accessibility and affordability of nutritious food while strengthening local livelihoods and food systems’ resilience. This operationalization could be implemented using different and integrated entry points:

Governance, Planning, and Logistics: Municipalities to create institutional and infrastructural conditions to forge closer links between local producers, consumers, and service providers along agri-food value chains, with potentially high returns. This would include tailoring interventions in planning and governance of territorial markets to benefit micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), going beyond food market/supply chain efficiency: i) balance offer of local shops with the development of superstores; ii) support the growth in farm shops where farmers sell mainly their own products directly to consumers and educate farmers to new methods for distribution and promotion; iii) plan shop developments that reduce the need to travel, support better public transport to local shops and improve logistics to increase access e.g. bus services and home deliveries for those unable to get to shops regularly; iv) reduce the local shops’ cost of vegetables and fruits, to make them more competitive in respect to supermarkets.

Access to Credit and Financing: i) Create incentives for those in the finance and investment community, with support from national policy and development banks, to work together to meet the financial needs of, for example, smallholder producers, micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises. Promising examples are emerging in social or impact financing, circular and solidarity economy initiatives; ii) Simplify procedures to encourage private actors and public institutions to improve access to (micro) credit for small-scale entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers, particularly women who may have fewer assets and informal land ownership. Youth and start-up entrepreneurs are important connectors between rural producers and with new markets for healthy food as well as for import/export. Financing for the acceleration and growth of new business and employment opportunities across the urban-rural continuum is vital. Recognize that incorporating effective actions to create jobs and improve working conditions in rural areas contributes to the livelihoods of the stewards and protectors of ecosystems.  This then contributes to the food security and nutrition of rural and urban populations.

Mainstream health and well-being, including food security and nutrition issues, throughout all public service planning: It needs to be ensured that all initiatives, policies and programs for integrated territorial planning evaluate potential positive and negative impacts on health, giving special attention to the most vulnerable groups in cities, and in particular slum-dwellers, for whom food and nutrition security, access to health services and sanitation are a challenge. Institutional food service (schools, hospitals, etc.) may be used as a lever to increase access to sustainable, healthy diets while providing markets for smallholder producers. Re-shape public food service and procurement regulations to respond to sustainable goals would enable the provision of nutritious and safe foods from regional seasonal produce, increase the visibility and awareness of rural livelihoods in urban areas, acknowledge indigenous knowledge and experience, preserve regional environments and farmlands, and enhance livelihoods and local economies in disadvantaged rural areas.

Inclusivity: the growing potential of collaboration between local producers and urban communities should be explored and leveraged.  Growers, small-holders and horticultural businesses have the opportunity to promote and respond to community needs and can play a unique educational and recreational role in the community while closing the gap between producers and consumers. Visits to schools, and hospitality businesses, teaching horticulture skills and organizing evening classes could be only some of the activities to get the community involved. At the same time, communities can work in partnership with local growers.  For example, food retailers, especially supermarket chains, are a dominant force in shaping the preferences and demand for goods. Supermarkets can greatly improve their customers’ access to vegetables and fruit by i) offering an increased variety of fresh vegetables and fruits on sale, ii) guaranteeing accessibility to the supermarket for people with disability, iii) offering small reasonably priced packs or unpackaged affordable vegetables and fruits sold singly for small households, iv) offering loyalty cards or stamps that offer discounts on vegetables and fruits, v) guaranteeing home-service deliveries for locally produced foods.

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3. How can urban food supply chains, formal and informal, local and global, be made more resilient to ensure food security and nutrition within urban settings?

Essential food system infrastructures, including markets, storage, refrigeration, processing, hygiene and sanitation, are largely inadequate for growing cities and vulnerable to severe disruptions from natural to man-induced hazards. Urban food systems and supply chains must be able to withstand and rebound from acute disruptions such as civil unrest, cyber-attacks, or cyclones, as well as those with more gradual impacts, such as drought, sea-level rise, or economic shocks. I) Location in at-risk areas exposing food distribution to floods, ii) power outages caused by cyclones and resulting in major food-safety hazards, iii) transport disruptions caused by pandemic lockdown restrictions or political unrest, iv) formal and informal food retail decrease induced by major economic shocks and absence of safety nets, are all potential threats to urban food supply chains. Populations with social and economic disadvantages are particularly vulnerable to the impact of food system disruptions, including low-income individuals, food desert residents, the elderly and disabled, those with medically-restricted diets, and those experiencing homelessness.

Four recommendations could help policymakers and researchers in the early stages of considering ways to improve resilience across the food systems:

Broadly incorporate Food System Risks in Emergency Preparedness Plans and Disaster Recovery Plans: Cities’ resilience and disaster recovery plans should directly address disruptions to all aspects of the food system, from recognizing the concentration of food distribution networks and food access points in at-risk areas, to identifying risks from power outages, transit impairment and staff attendance.

Build Cross-Sectoral Collaboration And Communication Network Between Formal And Informal Food Systems Actors: Given limited food bank capacity in the aftermath of disasters, cities must build a strong communication network across government agencies, NGOs, non-profits, and food businesses to ensure that local organizations have the capacity to meet physical and economic food access challenges for vulnerable, food-insecure populations. This should include effective communication of (and resource distribution for) personal and household food disruption preparedness.

Plan for Redundancy: Redundancy is the intentional duplication of system components in order to increase a system’s resilience to change or failure. Redundancy may refer to infrastructure: this may include back-generators for refrigeration or propane grills and butane burners for cooking during power outages, intra-nets during cyber-attacks, water harvesting systems during water disruptions. Redundancy may refer to Inventory and Supplier Diversity: the amount of food that an organization has on hand in advance of an event and the organization’s ability to quickly restock may determine how successfully it withstands a disruptive event. Redundancy may refer to the location: Organizations that work closely with other institutions that provide similar services or that have multiple locations may be more resilient.

Endorse a Systemic Concept of Risk: Systemic risk is associated with cascading impacts that spread within and across systems and sectors (e.g. ecosystems, health, infrastructure and the food sector) via the movements of people, goods, capital and information within and across boundaries (e.g. regions, countries and continents). Systems can be affected by critical events or shocks that occur outside or within the system. Furthermore, the design and evolution of systems, like in the case of the food system, can create risks as well as opportunities that make elements of the system more or less resilient towards external shocks. For example, the pursuit of ever more efficient food systems has resulted in greater reliance on trade to compensate for local or national production gaps or to absorb over-supply. This so-called efficiency of the system contributed to reduced grain storage and thus to a reduced buffer against unplanned outcomes, which likely contributed to price spikes and cascading risk throughout and beyond the food system in 2008–2012. Evidence generation in a systemic concept of risk is key. Data-driven or empirical approaches are important to build coherent and robust theory; however, a lack of data and theory makes model development challenging. In the context of systemic risk, a shift in perception from elements to patterns, and from interconnectivity to interdependence, is necessary.

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4. What changes are needed in urban planning to better support all dimensions of food security – including support for human rights, agency and sustainability? Which are some of the measures that can strengthen the agency of local actors in urban and peri-urban food systems? 

Integrating the food dimension with other components of the human systems and eco-systems according to a territorial approach: Use territorial system-based approaches to promote integrative and inclusive urban, territorial and rural policy and planning to support the analysis of the flow of resources such as people, water, biodiversity and food. Use the agriculture and food, water, energy and health security systems and their underlying ecosystem functions as unifying frameworks to strengthen urban and rural synergies.  Integrate issues of health, migration, food imports, climate change and conflict with job creation and funding for ecosystem services. This could promote and protect natural resources and biodiversity conservation, reduce waste, increase food security, improve nutrition and address gender equality, etc.

Recognizing the added value of combining vacant spaces with growing food in or near cities:  Planners are increasingly recognizing urban agriculture as an important component of sustainable and resilient environments. Vacant land in cities represents a huge potential for this purpose: these are the weed lots, garbage-strewn undeveloped spaces, and high crime areas that most urban residents consider blights on the neighborhood. In some cases, neighbors have organized to transform these spaces into community amenities such as shared garden spaces, but all too often these lots persist as unrecognized opportunities for urban gardening and farming on vacant or underutilized lands to stabilize neighborhoods and foster a sense of community. This approach addresses contemporarily issued related to food systems, nature-based solutions for resilience, climate change action and greenhouse emission reduction. It should be underpinned by clear zoning regulations and by a comprehensive approach to the integration of food-system considerations in municipal policy decision-making processes and explicit acknowledgment of the connections between urban agriculture and sustainability, neighbourhood liveability, urban greening, community building, social interaction, and crime reduction.

Harness the power of civil society through participatory engagement: Create spaces and mechanisms as needed to engage in political dialogue and planning processes for women, Indigenous Peoples, children, youth, elders, persons with disabilities, slum dwellers, smallholders and the forcibly displaced and others at risk of being left behind. Protect and respect local and indigenous cultures. Recognize that the relation of culture to migration, mobility and displacement is critical for social protection and resilience, and is a key factor in the design of appropriate urban strategies and interventions. Ask urban food stakeholders to serve in a consultative role to review municipal ordinances, whether through a hearing process, working group, food council or commission. This option will incorporate opinions of interested groups in the formulation process and also serve to strengthen local ownership in the resulting policy.

Exchanged knowledge through multi-stakeholder platforms: Establish ongoing knowledge exchange, platforms, dialogue and capacity development to strengthen urban-rural linkages that drive sustainable and inclusive growth (honoring the territory’s carrying capacity). Support ongoing dialogue between stakeholders through dedicated and innovative training curricula for regional planners and cross-sector collaboration with academia, non-governmental partners and those most likely to be left behind.

Generate Evidence and Manage Data through Mixed Methods: Establish or improve knowledge systems and fill data gaps by developing participatory models and mix-methods (quantitative model / qualitative data collection) that map and describe complex urban systems Based on the integration of social, economic and environmental dimensions. This will generate evidence to support urban and food systems planning methods that will reinforce the urban-rural continuum and improve territorial cohesion. Improve and collect, where needed, disaggregated territorial data, including for age, gender and socio-economic status of producers and consumers.  Collect urban, peri-urban and rural disaggregated data and indicators on both national and subnational levels  (addressing appropriate scale and including quantifiable and qualitative data). Incorporate nonstate and grassroots knowledge. Facilitate knowledge sharing, monitor performance and evaluation, and make information accessible, transparent, interactive and available for all.

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5. How can national and municipal governments strengthen the potential for low-carbon, inclusive, relatively self-sufficient and resilient cities and towns to drive improved food security and nutrition in the wake of climate change and other crises?

Food Systems Vulnerability Assessments: Resilient food systems are increasingly becoming an entry point in urban areas as cities have declared climate change, food safety, and pandemic-related emergencies. Food systems can be linked to cities’ efforts to develop and implement comprehensive resilience plans and related response. Understanding which kind of food systems, we have and which kind of food system we want is the base for decision-making.  Cities such as Baltimore, Quito and Toronto are but a few that have undertaken food systems vulnerability assessments as the basis to develop such plans.

City Region Food Systems: The impacts of climate change and emerging public health issues are disrupting food systems all over the world, affecting food and nutrition security of millions of people. In a rapidly urbanising world where 70 percent of the global food supply is consumed in urban areas, city region food systems are especially affected by shocks and stresses, but they also present the answer to the problem. This territorial approach, developed by FAO and RUAF, included mapping food flows and food system stakeholders, and identifying food needs as well as potential production areas and capacities within the city region. The results of this analysis may inform the design and implementation of a ‘post-COVID-19 strategy’ for enhanced resilience, linking responses to climate and epidemic vulnerabilities to more resilient food systems.

Use of nature-based solutions and green infrastructures to build climate-resilient circular food systems: Nature-based solutions (NBS; solutions that are inspired by, supported by, or copied from nature) can overcome system challenges related to the functioning of the biosphere, society, or economy (including governance arrangements), and support a transition to sustainable climate-resilient food systems. Different types of NBS can be used to support the transition needed to address food system failures and reach the SDGs. Example that can be mentioned are: i) Rain Water Harvesting practices for Irrigation (RWHI), which implies harvesting, storing, and conserving rainwater directly at the farm or the run-off derived from a catchment area or reservoir from which individual farmers can benefit; ii) Agroforestry as the practice to integrate agriculture into forests and trees environments improve soil fertility and reduce erosion, reduce pests infestation, contribute to nature conservation and ultimately reduce disaster risk and mitigate climate change; iii) Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a holistic approach to combat plant pests with minimal applications of crop protecting agents, reduce the negative impacts that derive on human health and the environment from agro-chemicals.

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6. What are the most appropriate policies (and gaps in existing policies) along the rural-urban continuum to address issues of land tenure, urban expansion into farmland and the growing competition for natural resources?

Interjurisdictional Multiscale Policies and Programmes: city-region food systems should be underpinned by inter-municipal cooperation and associative inter-jurisdictional governance mechanisms to integrate different levels of government and to bring together government planning authorities. This may lead in some cases to new, integrated agencies or associations (e.g. starting with waste, water, public transport or land management). Special attention should be given to the financial, cultural and institutional dimensions and needs of rural settlements, small towns and intermediate cities. Strengthen their capacities to engage in integrated territorial development, for example through territorial associations between small towns and cities.

Sustainability Policies:  innovative policy tools not mandated by law, allow for a flexible and integrated approach, that can tie together issues related to: Health and wellbeing (e.g. improve the health of the population as a whole, increase the welfare of society at large; Environment (reduce negative environmental impacts of the food system, e.g. reducing carbon emissions, being more energy efficient); Economy and community development (support a vibrant local economy, green economy, e.g. by supporting local growers, retailers, markets, and employment); Social and cultural aspects (support resilient, close-knit communities, food-friendly neighborhoods, e.g. by celebrating and promoting local food culture); Food security/social justice (e.g. fight food poverty, improved access for affordable, culturally diverse and healthy food, fairness in the food chain, a just food system); Learning/empowerment (e.g. life-long learning, empowered residents); Urban-rural linkages (i.e. connect city and the countryside through food). These long-term policies specifically aimed at securing sustained economic growth, a healthy environment or an inclusive social development are unfortunately still in a nascent state, especially in developing Countries. 

Land governance and zoning: land governance, zoning and regulations for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture are the custodians of a balanced and integrated land use, that may follow a unique vision implemented by Municipalities and urban stakeholders. A thorough review of land zoning and regulations is necessary to assess their context-specific adequacy to frame the current dynamics of urban expansion into farmland and to eventually update them to the human and eco-systems interlinked development.

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7. How can urban and peri-urban food systems ensure that food and nutrition needs of specific groups of people, such as migrants, the internally displaced, children, adolescent, etc., are met?

Leave No-one Behind Approach to Food Systems and Urban-Rural Linkages: Embed Leave No-One Behind approaches in all policy instruments and actions to ensure that development initiatives and processes do not negatively affect anyone’s needs across the urban-rural continuum. Interventions should respect, promote and fulfil the basic essential needs of diverse categories of vulnerable populations, such as employment, education, health, adequate and affordable housing, and food. Protecting an area’s natural biological diversity should complement and contribute to meeting population’s essential needs in that area.

Do no harm and provide social protection: Strengthen urban-rural linkages to overcome conflict, recognize cultural diversity and reduce inequalities. This can be done through the promotion of well-being, health, food security and nutrition, and the protection of water, energy, mobility and shelter, biodiversity and land tenure in initiatives, policies, programmes and service provision. Strike a balance in measures and social protection programmes affecting men and women, and different age and socio-economic groups across the urban-rural continuum.

Inclusivity: Develop a framework for the inclusion of urban and rural at-risk populations. Include vulnerable and marginalized people in the planning, decision-making and design of governance platforms and programmes to promote holistic understanding of issues. Increase accountability through monitoring and evaluating processes to ensure the inclusion of urban and rural communities, for example, developing tools for impact assessment of policies, strategies, programmes and initiatives to strengthen territorial integration.

Data Collection and Evidence Generation: Collect and make available disaggregated data and knowledge on peoples’ mobility (including women, youth and people living with disabilities) across the urban-rural continuum (including international migration flows). This should especially focus on mobility in relation to the growth and transformative potential of small and intermediate towns and cities, including both daily and seasonal commuting as well as longer-term movement. Analysis focusing on jobs, health, food security and nutrition, and strategic environmental assessments of resource use and distribution can guide planning on different scales for dynamic mobility-based services such as training, finance and information for rural and urban multi-spatial households.

Tackle all form of malnutrition:  Institute policy interventions that effectively tackle all forms of malnutrition (i.e. the presence of undernutrition, deficiencies in vitamins and/ or minerals, and the presence of overweight or obesity). Of the top 15 disease risks in 2017, four are dietary (alcohol use, low wholegrains, high sodium, and low fruit). Another seven are nutritional or health indicators that are highly responsive to diet. Investing in measures to address malnutrition can significantly impact health, reduce healthcare costs and is linked to better productivity. Focus attention on making nutritious and safe foods more affordable, available and desirable by collaborating with food systems partners for solutions at levels of the food supply, the food environment and the consumer. Start with the promotion of local diets and local production of diverse and nutritious food as a cost-effective strategy to reduce non-communicable diseases. This will also generate employment and income for low-income groups (e.g. Indigenous Peoples, youth, women, migrants etc.)

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8. What are the potential benefits and challenges of territorial markets for strengthening food security and nutrition for urban populations?

Global supply chains have been rocked in the last few years. From lockdown measures in 2020 and 2021 creating logistical challenges for farmers and traders to skyrocketing fuel prices from the Russia-Ukraine war, food supply lines in Africa were badly disrupted. The impacts ranged from high prices faced by consumers to drastically reduced incomes for farmers, as well as the loss of fresh produce at different points along the value chain. The recent droughts especially in the horn of Africa have seen similar effects on both consumers and producers alike, with a handful of large multinational distributors, processors, and retailers hoarding super profits along the way.

Challenges:

Lacking adequate infrastructures: poor and often temporary or semi-permanent infrastructures, territorial markets lack adequate organization, such as water supply and disposal systems, access to electricity, access to bio-inputs, and adequate storage facilities, especially cold warehouses. This limits the preservation of perishable foods in these markets, thereby impacting not only food safety but also availability and desirability.

Poor Waste Management: territorial markets generate a relevant amount of organic and inorganic waste. Unfortunately, they are rarely framed within an efficient circular system of waste management and recycling. On the contrary, they end up being neglected areas with high environmental risks.

Insufficient Government Attention: territorial markets are often neglected in policy development and plans targeting nutrition – usually due to information gaps or a lack of understanding of their potential.

Benefits:

Livelihoods Creation: territorial markets contribute to creating livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers to directly sell their products. Community-led waste management and recycling as well as provision and maintenance of basic services/infrastructures supporting market development and management could also represent livelihood sources.

Facilitate access to a healthy diet and contribute to behavioural change: territorial markets have the potential to directly impact and benefit local diets and consumption, especially for low- and middle-income consumers, by improving the availability, accessibility, and desirability of locally produced, seasonal and diverse, healthy and nutritious food.

Reducing greenhouse gasses emissions:  The transportation for long distances and transformation of foods into ready-made and canned meals and snacks for supermarket stacking requires energy in the form of carbon. The packaging processes and distribution process also generate huge amounts of carbon emissions. Safely managed territorial markets with adequate infrastructure and waste management provisions are environmentally friendly.

Building climate resilience: Territorial markets have the potential to improve food systems' resilience to external shocks and improve food and nutrition security by reducing dependency on imported foods and increasing the availability of locally nutritious options.

Build identity: More than location, they represent these people’s shared identity and values built through trust and relationships. They are also defined by the diversity of commodities and inclusive participation.

Open knowledge sharing: territorial markets are organic in ways that characterize indigenous commerce, whose fundamental principles include low barriers to entry, open knowledge sharing and generational transfer of business practices. Since they bring together many people and diverse food commodities they promote cultural exchange and societal openness.

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9.  In what ways can the incorporation of climate-resilient agricultural and circular economy practices in urban and peri-urban agriculture provide climate co-benefits for all and enhance climate resilience?

There is a need to clearly focus on how food systems function within urban and peri-urban spaces in order to understand the possible leverage points and circular economy options. Understanding consumers demand in urban spaces is important to design approaches that link to projected change such as increasing demand for convenience food, and higher incomes driving demand for high-value products and meats. Circular economy practices that also drive behaviour change especially linked to the types of products demanded have a huge potential to benefit climate resilience. This includes options such as insect farming, and developing value chains that reduce the need for fishmeal-based animal feed, fertilisers etc. 

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10. How can citizens be engaged and empowered to drive inclusive, transparent, participatory processes for urban transformations, ensuring synergies and complementarity with city councils?

Adopt participatory methodologies such as cross-sectoral surveys, partnership guides, participatory budgeting and assessment tools, to stimulate equity and shared knowledge management across institutions and power hubs. Examples are food policy councils and multi-sector associations between government, citizen groups and business communities.

Establish local governments and institutions inclusive of working groups, thematic clusters, or partnerships of actors with representatives from the private sector (where appropriate and preventing or addressing conflicts of interest) and civil society groups in the rural-urban continuum and between larger and smaller cities and towns and rural authorities (including regional cross-border or trans-jurisdiction boundaries).

Establish a framework for enhancing cooperation among communities and other actors in urban and rural areas that facilitates the flow of investments, knowledge, and skills necessary for addressing spatial, economic and social disparity between urban and rural peoples and territories. This could be done through surveys, campaigns, and tech platforms to share knowledge and services.

1. The 2021 Groundswell report of the World bank on Climate Migration (available on https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/2c9150df-52c3-…) projects that 1) the number of internal disaster/climate affected migrants (or IDPs) will increase from 24 to 216 million by 2050 -on top of the projected increase of refugees 2) hotspots of migration and urbanization will emerge in the coming years, meaning accelerated urbanization patterns and increased pressure on food, water (and other basic services) systems as well as changing demographic trends. These projections can perhaps provide even more context to questions 1 and 7 and contribute to answer these questions.

2. Heat stress seems to be a key factors in rural to urban migration decision making ( see e.g. https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2103): in several regions MENA, NA and Central Asian countries heat stress is creating conditions of inhabitability (e.g. in the city of Jacobabad in Pakistan). High temperatures are detrimental for crop productivity, soil quality and livability but also are a key factor in triggering heat waves, followed by intensified monsoon seasons. These factors can further influence food security as crops are at risk of destruction, soil nutrient depletion and urban areas at risk of flooding (as happened in Pakistan in 2022). Including heat stress can add value to answer questions 1,3 and 6.

3. The Food and Nutrition Security Resilience Programme (FNS-REPRO) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR), is a four-year plan addressing the cause‑effect relationship between conflict and food insecurity in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan (https://www.wur.nl/en/research-results/research-institutes/centre-for-d…). It is proposing a very interesting model and local approach to address food systems vulnerabilities and resilience by analysing the relationship between 1) Food Systems (socio-economic drivers) 2). Food supply systems and environmental drivers (e.g. related to the phophorus crises), shocks&stresses 3) Shock and stress 4) Resilience Capacities in relation to Exposure and Sensitivity and 5. How all preceding factors lead to Food System Outcomes/Food Security and Environmental Outcomes. It would be very interesting to apply novel model to the rural/urban dynamic.The model can be input for answering questions 1,2,3,6,9 and 10. Wageningen University is closely related to Van Hall Larenstein University.

Increasing the Qualitative and Quantitative output of Food Systems in Urban Areas and Their Environs

The first question we face is whether our efforts are to be aimed at improving national nutrition as a whole, or are they to be limited to a certain area. The answer to this query determines what strategies should be embodied in a national food and agriculture policy to achieve our objective. All things considered, we believe that it would repay to adopt a regional approach, and we will provide some cogent pragmatic reasons for doing so.

As indicated in the note intended to guide this discussion, the highest incidence of inadequate or inappropriate nutrition obtains in the large urban centra in Asia, Africa and South America. However, it must be pointed out these problems do exist even in affluent countries, but to a lesser degree. Meanwhile, in the above three continents, the availability of arable land in and around urban centra are constantly shrinking owing to the following reasons:

   • As each city becomes an ‘economic miracle’ (Eg. Bombay), demand for land in a city for ‘property development’ increases; this is mostly due to the rising demand for accommodation posed by the growth of industries and the increasing number of more affluent citizens.

   • As the migration of impoverished rural people into urban centra continues unabated while the city authorities are unable to provide them adequate shelter, squatting increases at an amazing rate. Any observer could notice that permanent slums and makeshift shelters are scattered over previously unoccupied areas in such cities.

   • Even if small plots of arable land may be found in such cities, their infra-structure, especially with respect to irrigation would not permit agriculture. Often, most such urban centra are located on land unsuitable for agriculture.

   • Human nature; it would be naïve to assume that most owners of urban land would allocate their grounds to agriculture when they could make large gains by setting aside their property to ‘land development.’

It may be objected that urban agriculture could be possible, hence desirable in smaller cities where enhancement of public nutrition is urgently needed. When this is so, one still encounters two serious difficulties:

   • Pressure in and on the national authorities to invest in industrial development in and around cities irrespective of their size. As this becomes increasingly difficult in and around large cities, smaller cities are subjected to the same adverse influences mentioned above.

   • Great diversity in the extent and kinds of nutritional needs, governance, climate, soil, infra-structure, etc., makes any general recommendation merely academic. It would be salutary to note that the once familiar allotment gardens have now disappeared from European cities where they once served such a beneficial purpose.

Therefore, we propose that our efforts ought to be directed at enhancing of agriculture in suitable areas surrounding urban centra in order to improve local nutrition. This pragmatic restriction of our target area would have a national benefit by relieving some of the other food systems from their burden of having to provide all the food needed by disproportionately large city populations. Our next task is to ascertain what coordinated measures are required to attain this goal.

Obstacles to Success

Unless all the obstacles outlined below are overcome, success will continue to elude us no matter how well we deal with some of them, for each and every one of them are critical in one way or the other.

   • Not having a prior knowledge of the extent of actually available arable land and the nature of the soil involved. This is under constant pressure due to continuous migration and demand for urban industrialisation.

   • Lack of a fair idea of what food stuffs are required and in what quantity; here, we are not talking about ‘research’ or precise numbers. It would be excellent to concentrate on fresh produce. In suitable areas, output of dairy and poultry farms, aquaculture and local fisheries may repay inclusion.

   • Failure to ascertain the suitability of the chosen food stuffs to the soil, climate, available water supply and the agricultural competence of the food producers/harvesters. The latter constitutes one possessing the knowledge of how to produce/harvest one or more food items and having the skill to do so successfully.

   • Lack of awareness of the actual state of other relevant sub-systems of the food systems involved. These include storage, preservation (cold storage of perishable items), transport and trade sub-systems. Often, the critical transport sub-system is a combination of state-run and private concerns which makes their improvement difficult.

   • Paucity of a sound prior knowledge among the strategists of the actual financial and other relevant resources at the disposal of those in the field who are supposed to implement the strategy aimed at achieving the present objective.

   • Failure of the policy-makers to distinguish between strategy, regional and field operations needed to implement an strategy; it also applies to their inability or unwillingness to ensure an intra-policy harmony among the strategies proposed to implement a policy.

   • Institutional unwillingness and inability to ensure an inter-policy harmony among the governmental policies.

   • Technical partisanship; the commonest manifestation of this involves invention of superfluous terms and their vigorous promotion. In this discussion, we advocate the use of ecologically sound agriculture whenever it is feasible rather than insisting on one form of it which is undoubtedly benign to our environment.

The last three obstacles are most difficult to overcome; the first of them owing to universal lack of competence in achieving intra-policy harmony, advocacy of institutional autonomy, indifference and corruption while the last is often driven by a fervour akin to that elicited by a religion. Since our approach is pragmatic, we will direct our attention primarily towards overcoming the first six obstacles noted above.

Policy and Strategy

We believe that it is self-evident that our objective embodies one of the strategies employed to implement a national policy on food and agriculture. We have read with regret that some believe our goal to be the objective of a policy. Nothing could be more erroneous, for emphasis on agriculture in a certain area is not a policy objective, rather it is a strategic measure subsumed by a national policy on food and agriculture. Unless and until this obvious fact is clearly understood, all actions could only end in fragmentary results of varying success.

A lucid and cogent food and agriculture policy shorn of superfluous verbiage would express the following:

• The authorities shall undertake the appropriate actions required to found or modify the national food systems as well as the other adjunctive measures necessary to enable the people to procure at an affordable cost an adequate quantity of wholesome food they need to enjoy a varied and a balanced diet relative to their individual dietary requirements. They shall undertake all requisite measures to ensure that the food systems used are sustainable, robust, resilient, environmentally benign and promote the increase of agricultural bio-diversity.

We prefer environmental benignity for obvious reasons viz., as the urban poor greatly suffer from hunger and malnutrition, it is imperative to produce the greatest amount of wholesome food by methods least harmful to the environment rather than championing one’s own favourite approach. Now, it would be clear that one of the strategies used to implement the above policy would have to be directed at the enhancement of the output of the food systems in and around urban areas.

Such a strategy, if it is intended to be practical and comprehensible, could be expressed in surprisingly few words:

   • In order to achieve  the objective of the national food and agriculture policy, the authorities shall among others, implement an appropriate strategy to increase the qualitative and quantitative output of the food systems in and around urban areas; if such are absent but appropriate, they shall assist in their creation and successful operation.

So far, we have not outlined what this strategy is going to be. However, the preceptive reader would have noticed at once that such descriptions could only be undertaken when we have sound information needed to overcome the difficulties mentioned in the previous section. Thus, the very first operational component of our strategy would be the following:

   • Procure all the relevant information, the lack of which poses the greatest obstacle to success; meanwhile, investigate how to minimise the pernicious influence of the three last obstacles to success and undertake actions required to mitigate them.

At this point, some theorists may object by claiming that in some target areas food production is already carried out, hence, such preliminaries are unnecessary. However, that does not mean whether optimum methods are in use in such places, crops and household animals employed are those best suited to the area and finally, it ignores the possibility of food production in places where it is not now undertaken even though such an endeavour would repay one’s efforts.

   • Once the above strategic information is available, it would be comparatively easy to determine the requisite field operations with reference to them. We will not enumerate any such concrete action because there is an immense regional and local variation in what specific actions are most suitable. Guided by the strategic information, types and methods of food production should be decided in close consultation with local farmers/fishermen and practical agronomists.

However, we will point out certain general operations agricultural authorities may carry out to support our target group of food producers; they are intended not only to increase food production, but also to enhance the quality of life of those engaged in it. Achievement of this dual goal requires us to consider two logically inseparable divisions of a food system viz., food production and its disposal. We will now consider how both may be improved for everyone’s benefit.

The Way Ahead

Before we undertake any other action, it is necessary to ascertain whether it is possible to establish or to expand food systems around an urban environment. Here, the first piece of strategic information given above should be obtained; if no adequate area of arable land or irrigation facilities are not available, such urban areas or their environs should not be considered for further action. When this requirement is adequately met by a given area, we can proceed to the next step.

   • Next, we should correlate the food stuffs needed, preferably fresh produce with what is appropriate to the soil, climate, the available water supply etc. This will enable us to determine with reference to the real world, what food stuffs may be produced, what production help and enhancement of competence are required to make a qualitative and quantitative increase in local food production. We have previously mentioned the general types of food involved here.

   • The step above will enable us to identify not only the kinds of food to be produced, but it would also enable us to see what measures are to be taken to enhance the competence of food producers, what financial and technical aid is needed, etc. Once clearly identified, it would be a comparatively easy matter to undertake the necessary field operations needed to meet those requirements. The attentive reader would have noticed that it would be useless to generalise here as the variations in the relevant requirements are legion.

   • The equitable disposal of food has eluded us since the demise of barter system; otherwise, it is impossible to reconcile the poverty and low social status of actual food producers with that enjoyed by the middlemen engaged in food trade. We hold that it is imperative to device a means of disposing of food that would enable its producers to earn a decent income while

Its end-users could procure wholesome fresh food at an affordable price.

   • Once we agree on this consideration of common decency, we should ascertain the status of the following sub-systems of the local food systems viz., storage, preservation (unchanged or modified food), transport and trade. The trade sub-system may be concerned with raw or food ready to be eaten as seen in restaurants.

   • At this point, the perceptive reader would have observed that these sub-systems are governed by different authorities. Hence, the vital importance of inter-policy harmony with reference to the requirements of achieving our objective. Food and agriculture authorities have no control over those sub-systems, especially in the present context.

   • We are sceptical as to the possibility of inducing the authorities to ensure the necessary inter-policy harmony required for our success. We doubt very much whether we could even achieve an adequate intra-policy harmony in the food and agriculture policy of many a country. Committee’ism in decision making, undue respect for irrelevant qualifications, vociferous promotion of a variety of hobby horses, incompetence, indifference and corruption are indeed formidable obstacles to both types of policy harmony.

   • Therefore, we propose an alternative mode of action to dispose of food yielded by the current production. We assume that the actions necessary to ensure a sustainable and an adequate production of wholesome fresh food in areas around urban centra has already been undertaken.

   • It involves the establishment of cooperative outlets for fresh produce or ready-to-eat meals in family-run establishments. These are to be located in urban areas close to where food is produced to minimise the cost and delays in food transport. Food production and disposal are to be run on a linked cooperative basis which deprecates the formation of outlet or production chains of well-known kinds. Thus acting together, both producers and sellers of food may be able to share some common expenses such as transport and storage to their mutual advantage. Moreover, it would ensure that the end-users would have rapid access to fresh food.

   • Our aim is to achieve the greatest nutritional and financial benefits to the largest possible number of people. Hence, we deprecate the so-called ‘ecological food’ production in our target area by wealthy entrepreneurs who may employ some poor on minimal wages while offering their produce to the affluent in cities at high prices. This ‘green food trade’ would only enrich the few with a minimal impact on urban nutrition and decent employment for the poor.

   • We pride ourselves on our sense of realism; we know that in most urban settings where the need for food is acute, the type of family-run food outlets and even food transport is often liable to the depredations of a variety of legal and illegal protection racketeers. Unless the authorities are willing and able to guarantee their security, such projects will have little chance of success. In some instances, one may be able to form groups of vigilantes to ensure the safety of the enterprise.

Conclusions

We have offered a rational check list one ought to use before deciding on whether to engage in food production near urban environs. It is difficult to conceive of growing food in a semi-arid city like Luanda with a population of over 34 millions. The same difficulty obtains in nearly all big cities in the three continents mentioned earlier. Unless this discussion is merely academic and not aimed at lending a helping hand to ameliorate nutrition and income of the poor, we should insist on following the clear guidelines laid down here.

Inertia of the past reactive and reductive thought and action still looms before us like the incubus it has been for centuries. Thus, nobody would have the courage unequivocally to state that drastic population reduction, rational rural development and sound public transport using rail, water and road transport are essential for real progress. Furthermore, it is vital to restructure our education, i. e., make it individual-centred rather than aimed at the needs of some trader who does not create wealth nor any invention, but profits from the work of the creators and innovators.

Lal Manavado.

The content and proposal for the report and the existing scope and rationale, are comprehensive and intersectional. Engaging citizens in localised food movements and markets, creating equitable, circular economies and establishing policies that support small-scale peri-urban and agroecological farmers to innovate and become the conventional suppliers of food systems is essential to food security and nutrition, as is secure land tenure and #landback movements. The scope of the report addresses this attentively and effectively.

Australia faced severe flooding during the first months of 2022. Below is a case study of Food Connect, a small business that have been strengthening urban food systems for the last decade through equitable relationships with farmers and community education. They were able to respond to a climate crisis which disrupted other actors and supply chains drastically, with resilience and adaptability. 

Food Connect Australia Case Study 

https://www.sustainabletable.org.au/journal/local-food-systems-win-out-during-flood-crisis

I find that the scope is highly relevant as it highlights the role of informal sectors/markets aside more modern forms of distribution, stresses the role of UFS (urban and peri-urban food systems) in the resilience during crises, the role of public actions targeted towards the urban poor including food banks. It also calls for the documentation and collection of success stories of interventions allowing more contribution of UFS to food and nutritional security, less carbone missions, the inclusion and resilience of vulnerable communities.

I would suggest to extend the typology of informal and supermarket-driven food systems as proposed in a recent paper I wrote with a group of authors from Vietnam, Senegal, the Netherlands and France (see reference below : Moustier et al, 2023). We prefer to use the term « relational » rather than « informal » because the food systems are indeed organised according to logics of cost and risk minimisation and involve various commitments between partners. We argue that urban food systems involve the combination of at least six urban food chains: a subsistence chain, one short relational, one long relational, one value-oriented small and medium enterprise (SME)-driven, one value-oriented supermarket-driven, and one value-oriented e-commerce-driven. We identify overlaps, combinations and interactions between each type. Such diversity and interactions are keys to the resilience of urban food systems, yet they are not supported by public governance of urban food systems. We recommend interventions by national, regional and city authorities pertaining to regulations, resources and incentives, education and awareness, institutional capacity, mostly in support of SMEs and low-income consumers. As regards regulations, examples of successful integration of street vending in the city can be found in Vietnam (Loc and Moustier, 2016) or China (Dai et al., 2019) and Thailand. Regulations on advertisement are crucial to favour more healthy urban food consumption as evidenced in Ghana (Laar et al, 2020). The lack of basic market infrastructures and services, including credit and training on good hygiene practices, is an important constraint hampering food quality and traders’ business environment. As regards institutional capacity, governing urban food systems in an inclusive way is facilitated by establishing urban food policy councils/platforms, for example the Belo Horizonte Council for Food Security’s inclusion of government and civil society was crucial for its success (Haysom, 2015). Other cities of Latin America have set similar initiatives (see https://ruaf.org/). In terms of research, we highlight the need for more accurate and updated data on food consumption, food environments, foodsheds and food chains. 

Dai, N., Zhong, T., Scott, S. 2019. From overt opposition to covert cooperation: Governance of street food vending in Nanjing, China. Urban Forum 30 (4), 499-518.

Haysom, G. 2015. Food and the City: Urban Scale Food System Governance. Urban Forum 26, 263-281.

Moustier, P., Holdsworth, M., Dao The Anh, Pape Abdoulaye Seck, Renting, H., Caron, P., Bricas, N. 2023. The diverse and complementary components of urban food systems in the global South: characterization and policy implications. Global Food Security, 36, 100663 [with a corrigendon at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/global-food-security/vol/37/suppl/C]

Laar, A., Barnes, A., Aryeetey, R., Tandoh, A., Bash, K., Mensah, K., ... & Holdsworth, M. 2020. Implementation of healthy food environment policies to prevent nutrition-related non-communicable diseases in Ghana: national experts’ assessment of government action. Food Policy, 93, 101907.

Loc, N. T. T., Moustier, P. 2016. Toward a restricted tolerance of street vending of food in Hanoi districts: the role of stakeholder dialogue. World Food Policy 2, 67-78.

Dear Evariste,

Thanks for the invite to participate at the online consultation on „Strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition in the context of urbanization and rural transformation“. On behalf of our colleagues in Capital we would like to take the opportunity to share the below comments and the attached GFFA document for your consideration:

• “Germany attaches great importance to the topic “Strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition in the context of urbanization and rural transformation”.

• In 2016, we dedicated ourselves to the topic “How to feed our cities? – Agriculture and rural areas in an era of urbanization” as part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). Here, a GFFA Communiqué with key messages on the topic was adopted (see attachment).

• Moreover, the topic was also part of our National Dialogue process to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, in which we dealt with this issue in the thematic area “sustainable food systems in urban and rural areas”. In this context, a dialog event on the topic “Together for sustainable nutrition: Cooperative food systems as drivers of sustainability” was held on 7^th April 2022 (see https://summitdialogues.org/dialogue/49968/). Results of the discussions on this thematic area revealed, among other things, that sustainable regional value chains are considered a starting point for transformation and a prerequisite for improved marketing of domestic products. They were characterized by resilient logistics chains, promote urban-rural relations and partnerships between producers and consumers, and enhance awareness of agriculture. In general, the broad dimension of the topic of regional value chains for the transformation process, up to the importance of promoting food-related craft trades and the transfer of knowledge in schools and professional training institutions, became obvious in the National Dialogue process.”

Thank you and kind regards

Silke

Silke Stallkamp, Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN Organizations in Rome

The Unregulated Dog and Cat Meat Trade and The Ancient Food Processing System

There exists an unregulated dog and cat meat trade across many parts of Asia. This includes large rural regions of China, S.Korea, Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam.  The World Animal Health Organization, along with the UN FAO, do not yet recognize dogs and cats as food and neither do the governments. With the trade being unregulated, it would be very helpful to rural transformation (e.g. bring it in line with the ethos of the SDGs) if the traditional dog meat production and  processing methods, could be discussed at a high level and hopefully later with governments,  as a way to help transform them.  With it being an unregulated trade, often steeped in ancient supersition, The UN Food System Transformation, and Rural Transformation agenda, would be an ideal time to shed light on the matter.

The main concerns being that up to 20% of dogs and cats in the meat trade are subjected to an ancient and unethical processing method, which collected graphic evidence shows, is simliar across all the countries mentioned above.  This includes boiling alive, blow torching alive, steaming alive, sometimes over a matter of hours.   Sadly this is due to a belief that the more pain the animal suffers, the better quality the meat will be.  This is not in line with humane slaughter as stated by OIE in their Terresital Code.. The rest of the dogs and cats in the meat trade who do receive a humane slaughter, sadly do not receive the basic animal welfare that the OIE and FAO advocates, for example free from fear, protected from cold/heat, safe transportation, water. 

A. Faites-nous part de vos commentaires sur les objectifs et le contenu proposé pour ce rapport, tels que décrits ci-après.

Pensez-vous que le champ d'application proposé est suffisamment large pour permettre d'analyser et de discuter des questions clés concernant le rôle des systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains dans la réalisation de la sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition? Y a-t-il des lacunes ou des omissions majeures?

Il n’ya pas eu d’allusions aux ODD interconnectés à l’ODD2

B. Faites-nous connaître les bonnes pratiques et les expériences réussies en matière de renforcement des systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains dans le contexte de l'urbanisation et de la transformation rurale, y compris dans les situations d'urgence ou de conflit.

Des organisations paysannes offrent des légumes aux cantines scolaires de leur localité

C. Veuillez partager la littérature récente, les études de cas et les données qui pourraient aider à répondre aux questions suivantes :

1.            Quels sont les principaux goulets d'étranglement qui freinent la contribution des systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains à la sécurité alimentaire et à la nutrition?

-Vols des recoltes immatures par des affamés

-Errance des herbivores domestiques qui détruisent des cultures péri-urbaines

-Ordre climatique (sécheresses successives et irrégularité des pluies à l'origine de la fragilisation du milieu naturel et d'une forte dégradation du couvert forestier)

-Ordre anthropique (croissance démographique, modes d'exploitation du milieu non adaptés aux conditions nouvelles).

-Vulnérabilité de l’agriculture et des ressources en eau

-Raccourcissement de la durée moyenne des périodes de croissance végétative (décalage des débuts de saison culturale)

-Exposition accrue des plantes aux stress hydriques et amenuisement du volume des eaux de surface dans la plupart des régions).

-Réduction de la productivité du travail paysan

-Diminution des ressources financières des ménages

 Les risques de perte de récolte sont devenus de plus en plus importants surtout pour les cultures vivrières à cycle végétatif long. Les femmes représentent 90% des acteurs du sous-secteur des cultures vivrières. Elles s’occupent également de l’élevage de bovins, ainsi que des activités de transformation et de commercialisation des produits dérivés… Elles représentent 2/3 de la main d’œuvre agricole. Mais les revenus générés par leurs activités agricoles sont dérisoires, les productions n’étant pas toujours ni valorisées ni comptabilisées. Elles sont principalement destinées à la subsistance de la famille.

2.            Comment transformer les systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains et les rendre plus équitables et accessibles, aussi bien pour les acteurs du système alimentaire qu'en termes de sécurité alimentaire et de résultats nutritionnels?

- Il faut dynamiser la promotion de la:

-Production de semence d’igname à partir de bouturage de tige aérienne

-Production de fongicides à base de feuilles de papayer

-Production de cultures maraîchères par le système hydroponique

-Production d’insecticides à base de feuilles de neem

-Production de semences des plantes de légumineuses pour la restauration de la fertilité des sols

-Technologies de multiplication rapide des variétés de banane plantain et des variétés de manioc tolérantes au stress hydrique

-Captage d’eau à travers un barrage de retenue

-Adduction d’eau potable par système d’Hydraulique Villageoise Améliorée (HVA) en milieu rural

-Captage de l’eau souterraine à l’aide d’une pompe à motricité humaine

-Utilisation aux fins agricoles des boues d’une station d’épuration des eaux usées

3.            Comment renforcer la résilience des chaînes d'approvisionnement alimentaire urbaines, formelles et informelles, locales et mondiales, afin de garantir la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition en milieu urbain?

-Construire des partenariats pour mobiliser les ressources existantes et des moyens supplémentaires (développement technologique, ressources financières, renforcement des capacités). Les partenariats multipartites seront essentiels pour tirer parti des interconnexions entre les objectifs de développement durable, dans le but de renforcer leur efficacité et leur impact et d’accélérer les progrès dans la réalisation des objectifs de développement durable.

1.            Quels changements faut-il apporter à la planification urbaine pour mieux soutenir toutes les dimensions de la sécurité alimentaire, y compris le soutien aux droits de l'homme, à l'agencéité et à la durabilité?

-Prendre en compte des marqueurs de Rio (diversité biologique, atténuation du changement climatique, adaptation au changement climatique et désertification)

Comment renforcer l'action des acteurs locaux dans les systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains?

-Promouvoir et accompagner l’agriculture hors sol

-Multiplier les jardins publics en les disposant aux dimensions de la sécurité alimentaire

6.            Quelles sont les politiques les plus appropriées (et les lacunes des politiques existantes) dans le cadre du continuum rural-urbain pour résoudre les problèmes de régime foncier, d'expansion urbaine sur les terres agricoles et de concurrence croissante pour les ressources naturelles?

-Promotion du code foncier            

-Protection des terres agricoles des lotissements

7.            De quelle manière les systèmes alimentaires urbains et péri-urbains peuvent-ils garantir la satisfaction des besoins alimentaires et nutritionnels de groupes spécifiques de personnes, tels que les migrants, les personnes déplacées à l'intérieur du pays, les enfants, les adolescents, etc.?

-Renforcement de capacité des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur des systèmes durables de production de nourriture

-Accompagnement des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur l’accès à la terre, à la technologie, aux services financiers, à l’éducation et aux marchés

-Instruction des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur des pratiques agricoles résilientes qui accroissent la productivité et la production

-Formation des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur les mesures d’adaptation aux changements climatiques, à la sécheresse, phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes

-Sensibilisation des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur la préservation de la diversité génétique des semences, des cultures et des animaux d’élevage ou domestiqués et des espèces sauvages apparentées

-Capacitation des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur la réduction des pertes de produits alimentaires tout au long des chaînes de production et d’approvisionnement, y compris les pertes après récolte

-Informations des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur le développement durable et style de vie en harmonie avec la nature

-Information des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur une gestion écologiquement rationnelle des produits chimiques et de tous les déchets tout au long de leur cycle de vie

-Enseignement des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur la prévention, le recyclage, la réutilisation et la réduction de déchets

-Engagement des jeunes femmes urbaines et péri-urbaines sur des innovations scientifiques/technologiques du Centre National de Recherche Agronomique de Cote d’Ivoire

-Encadrement d’organisations communautaires sur l’élaboration et l’application des politiques d’élimination de la pauvreté et de développement durable

8.            Les marchés territoriaux peuvent-ils renforcer la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition des populations urbaines, et quels sont les avantages et les défis qu'ils représentent?

-Maîtrise du foncier et de la dynamique spatiale de l’occupation des terre,

-Amélioration de la productivité et de la création de richesses,

-Accroissement des rendements et revenus agricoles 

-Accroissement de l’innovation agricole et des rendements,

-Réduction des coûts médicaux liés à l’utilisation non contrôlée des intrants chimiques, Accroissement des rendements et revenus agricoles,   

-Diversification des revenus des communautés locales,  

-Maintien des rendements agricoles liés au micro climat,

-Stimulation d’activités écotouristiques   

-Amélioration de la productivité des facteurs naturels de production (terre, facteurs climatiques), etc.

9.            En quoi l'incorporation de pratiques liées à l'agriculture résiliente au climat et à l'économie circulaire dans l'agriculture urbaine et péri-urbaine peut-elle apporter des co-bénéfices pour tous sur le plan climatique et renforcer la résilience climatique?

-Réduction des conflits sociaux,

-Inclusion sociale,

-Effets positifs sur l’économie sociale,

-Création d’emplois en milieu

-Réduction de la pauvreté,

-Cohésion sociale,

-Réduction de l’exode des jeunes et rajeunissement du monde paysan,

-Amélioration de la gouvernance forestière,

-Participation des populations à la gestion des forêts, 

-Amélioration des conditions de vie de la femme

-Maintien de la biodiversité et des services écosystémiques,

-Réduction de la pression sur les terres agricoles,

-Réduction des dommages environnementaux dus aux intrants chimiques,

-Préservation et valorisation de la biodiversité et des habitats naturels

-Diminution de la pression sur les ressources naturelles,

-Amélioration de la qualité de l’environnement,

-Maintien des services écosystémiques,

-Réduction des niveaux d’émissions de GES, notamment de CO2, etc

10.         Comment les citoyens peuvent-ils être impliqués et habilités à conduire des processus inclusifs, transparents et participatifs pour les transformations urbaines, en assurant les synergies et la complémentarité avec les conseils municipaux?

-Éducation des citoyens sur des régimes alimentaires plus nutritifs, afin d’améliorer leurs moyens d’existence, par la promotion de systèmes agricoles plus résilients et durables

-Encouragement des citoyens sur les modes de consommation et de production durables, afin de parvenir à une gestion durable, par la promotion de la prévention, la réduction, le recyclage et la réutilisation

-Renforcement de capacités des organisations de jeunes sur la constitution de partenariats publics et public privé, afin de professionnaliser la contribution de la société civile locale à la réalisation de l’agenda 2030, par la mobilisation sociale

1.         Comment les expériences des communautés urbaines pour améliorer l'accès aux aliments frais et aux régimes alimentaires sains peuvent-elles inspirer des politiques publiques plus larges?

Partage d’expérience

Renforcement de capacité

Promotion de Technique d’innovation

Proposed content discusses many relevant issues. Stratification of population into urban, peri-urban and rural assumes matured democratic processes operating in environment with distributed development and decentralised administration. Policy guidelines are not sufficient for countries with non-uniform development and large income disparity across the country both in the cities and urban and rural areas. Policy process guidelines covering policy design, policy implementation, policy administration and policy governance activities are required. Law makers unaware of the scope and limitations of each of these activities might influence the outcome to meet short term gains undermining the measurements representing policy process quality.

A. Share your comments on the objectives and proposed content of this report as outlined above.

Proposed content discusses many relevant issues. Stratification of population into urban, peri-urban and rural assumes matured democratic processes operating in environment with distributed development and decentralised administration. Policy guidelines are not sufficient for countries with non-uniform development and large income disparity across the country both in the cities and urban and rural areas. Policy process guidelines covering policy design, policy implementation, policy administration and policy governance activities are required. Law makers unaware of the scope and limitations of each of these activities might influence the outcome to meet short term gains undermining the measurements representing policy process quality.

Some of the observations in the scope and rationale:

“This policy incoherence insists on a general lack of coordination between policies and actors concerned with food security, agriculture, environment, etc., and urban planning, and it is exacerbated by the general dearth of city-level data, analyses and empirical evidence to inform decision-making on urban and peri-urban food policy. As such, it is difficult for policymakers to plan, prioritize, design and track urban and peri-urban food system interventions and ensure coherence across policies and sectors.”

“Local markets multiplied, as did initiatives by family producers for home delivery of baskets of fresh food and initiatives for food donations to low-income communities. “

“At the same time, urban and peri-urban areas are home to interesting innovations for food production, processing and distribution, such as vertical gardens, ethical purchasing groups and marketing innovations, which could be replicated in other contexts.“ CVK: Vertical gardens in densely populated areas? Insects, reptiles etc!!!

“They also include investment in rural and urban infrastructure, the development of territorial markets and short supply chains.” CVK: territorial markets are often managed by mafia !!!

“Economic deprivation is the biggest cause of food insecurity in urban areas. Moreover, the methods of measurement of this economic deprivation in urban areas are often inadequate. Absolute levels of poverty in cities tend to be moderate, depending on the locality. However, relative levels of poverty are always high due to the prevailing levels of income inequality. This makes food security schemes like the PDS less effective since PDS targets below poverty line households. In an absolute sense, a sufficient amount of the urban poor may not satisfy the BPL requirements but would still suffer from food insecurity due to the higher costs of living associated with urban areas- prices tend to be higher in urban areas due to higher demand, higher average incomes and high transportation costs. While those above the poverty line, with certain income constraints, are still eligible for the PDS programme, the amount due to them is much less.” [7]

“The character of poverty would also be impacted by such differences, and interventions to alleviate urban poverty would need customisation to suit dissimilar requirements. In villages, internal distances are small and every village corner is easily accessible. In cities, intra-city travel gets more difficult to negotiate, traffic congestion multiplies and negotiating distances consumes more time and money. These have adverse implications on the income of the urban poor.”

“The past practice of seeing all poverty in a rural light and applying rural solutions in urban conditions will not yield the expected results.” [8] 

B. Share good practices and successful experiences on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems in the context of urbanization and rural transformation, including in the case of emergencies or conflicts.

"Every panchayat (Kerala has 941 in total) will have a phone number to which calls can be made to avail the food from the nearest community kitchen. None should go hungry," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said while announcing the initiative on March 25.

Reference: CORONAVIRUS: COMMUNITY KITCHENS DISH OUT 2.8 LAKH FOOD PACKETS A DAY IN KERALA, https://yourstory.com/2020/04/coronavirus-community-kitchen-kerela-food…

C. Share recent literature, case studies and data that could help answer the following questions:

5. How can national and municipal governments strengthen the potential for low-carbon, inclusive, relatively self-sufficient and resilient cities and towns to drive improved food security and nutrition in the wake of climate change and other crises?

Response: Develop a coherent food security and nutrition policy process considering applicable context at national and sub-national levels.

6. What are the most appropriate policies (and gaps in existing policies) along the rural-urban continuum to address issues of land tenure, urban expansion into farmland and the growing competition for natural resources?

Response: Rural transformation leading to vibrant village atmosphere is necessary to bridge the urban- rural development gap. In several middle low income countries including India, the economic development is varying and is not uniform across the country, regions and states. There is a large disparity between urban and rural development. In [3] an analysis of consumer expenditure in India is given. It is indicated that In India monthly per capita consumption expenditure has increased in both rural and urban areas over the years. However, the increase in expenditure has been greater in urban areas compared to rural areas. This shows a wide rural-urban disparity in the monthly per capita expenditure. In [4] average monthly expenditure in rural India is analysed. During 2011-12 average urban MPCE- monthly per capita consumption expenditure at ₹2,630 was about 84% higher than average rural MPCE ₹1,430 for the country as a whole. In the average rural Indian household’s food consumption accounted for about ₹758. In the case of urban households, it accounted for ₹1120 of the average consumption budget. The most noticeable rural-urban differences in the 2011-12 survey related to spending on cereals (urban ₹176, rural: ₹154), rent (urban: ₹163, rural: ₹7.15) and education (urban: ₹184, rural: ₹50).  There is a wide disparity in education and accommodation expenditure.

The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) shows that average agriculture household income was a mere Rs 8,931 per month in 2016-17. Apart from a paltry income, farmers are facing rising indebtedness, lesser financial inclusion, and absence of insurance facility, according to the NAFIS report [5]. While cultivation is still a major source of income (35 per cent), followed by daily wage labourer (34 per cent), livestock rearing contributes only 8 per cent of their income.

 Agriculture value added per worker in India is 1669(constant USD), GDP per capita is 6516(USD, PPP) [6]. Agriculture produce is priced at international market price, where as the GDP per capita is based on country inflation. The agricultural worker / marginal farmer get paid less for produce, where as they have to pay higher price for the food they consume. Generally, villagers sell their agricultural produce in raw form to a middleman to meet their financial commitments. They ignore the significance of income generating activities around their agricultural produce. For example, there are two intermediate derivatives with cotton.  Cotton is generally sold in raw form. Separating seeds from cotton bolls and crushing the seeds to separate oil and pulp gives two intermediate derivatives.  Selling oil to soap manufacturers and pulp to farmers as organic fertilizer/ compost are good income generating activities.  Most of the agricultural produce has intermediate derivatives with significant economic value. Lack of information on potential opportunities is a major hurdle in maximising economic value of agricultural produce.

Income generating activities in other domestic production sectors including handicrafts, handlooms, pottery, tailoring etc, adds to the list of potential opportunities for a villager’s income reaching national GDP (PPP).

8. What are the potential benefits and challenges of territorial markets for strengthening food security and nutrition for urban populations?

Response: Fresh blue food from local water bodies is likely to provide another income generating opportunity to youth living inland (non- coastal) and hill regions. 1) Small aqua farms in water bodies of villages (agricultural tanks not drains with chemicals) provide an opportunity for necessary nutrition security to the people living in villages. 2) Local blue food will reduce the emissions due to transportation of wet and fresh aqua food from coastal area to inland. Cold storage facilities and highspeed transportation adds to the current levels of emissions. 3)  Greenhouse gases emission from fish is less compared to chicken, pig and cattle. 4) Distributed development of fisheries across the country: wild catch from sea in coastal regions, fresh water aquaculture in inland/hill regions will lead to happy and healthy communities. 5) Unfair competition from big fisheries with big boats to small scale fishing community will be reduced.

9. In what ways can the incorporation of climate resilient agricultural and circular economy practices in urban and peri-urban agriculture provide climate co-benefits for all and enhance climate resilience?

Response: “Locally produced food can contribute to resilience of the vulnerable and resource-poor by increasing food availability, enhancing nutrition, improving farmers’ livelihoods and creating job opportunities for other disadvantaged groups. By adding value within local supply chains and markets, this approach contributes to improved local revenues”.[1]

Farmer’s forum of India described ‘Nutritional resilience and production for self-consumption of rural communities with backyard poultry, home gardens & farmers’ & community markets. [2].

10.         How can citizens be engaged and empowered to drive inclusive, transparent, participatory processes for urban transformations, ensuring synergies and complementarity with city councils?

• Integrate long shelf -life food products with fresh local food items to meet special dietary requirement of aged and vulnerable.
• As a part of ‘leave no one behind’ motivate small farmers in high value and labour-intensive food grains cultivation. Initiate steps to increase participation of small farmers, agricultural workers in food chain value addition (goods and services) to reach income at par with other manufacturing and service sectors.
• Bridge the rural urban gap in the standard of living. Train and motivate rural youth in marketing, using digital technology and e-commerce in creating a vibrant atmosphere in villages. Trained youth provides information on food, health and education sectors as a paid service. Youth at village may partner with farmers, landless agricultural workers in micro and small enterprises to increase income level of self and other farmers and landless agricultural workers.
• Encourage self-reliance. Distribute development and decentralize administration to ensure nutritious food to disadvantaged populations in epidemics and shocks due to natural disasters.
• Promote ‘blue food’ (fresh water prawns and small fish like herrings). Blue food from fresh water bodies is likely to provide another income generating opportunity to youth living inland (non- coastal) and hill regions, nutrition security to the people living in villages, will reduce the emissions due to transportation of wet and fresh aqua food from coastal area to inland, reduce the need of cold storage facilities and highspeed transportation, reduce emissions. Greenhouse gases from fish is less compared to chicken, pig and cattle.

11.         Which experiences of urban communities to increase access to fresh food and healthy diets can inspire broader public policies?

Provide nutrition quality food with choice to all residents. Hot food ready to eat delivered at the preferred location in the coverage area. Delivery charges are according to the type of food delivered and distance from the preparation point.

• Subsidized meal from government canteens.
• Standard breakfast and lunch giving about 1380Kcal Energy, per person/per day.
• Breakfast and lunch with fine variety grains giving about 1380Kcal Energy per person/per day at extra cost.
• Breakfast and lunch with eggs in breakfast, fine variety grains and non vegetarian items giving about 1380Kcal Energy per person/per day at extra cost.
• Hygiene prepared fresh non vegetarian food  items like boneless chicken/mutton, fish and other aqua food in small quantities like 100g/200g.
• Semi prepared food items like boneless chicken/mutton, fish and other aqua food in small quantities like 100g/200g, such that interested household can add condiments as per family food habits/taste.

References:

1. Enhance local production for local consumption, Solution Cluster 5.2.1, UNFSS 2021.
2. Nutritional resilience and production for self consumption of rural communities with backyard poultry, home gardens & farmers’ & community markets, 34, farmers' forum, India, Solution Cluster 5.2.1, UNFSS 2021.
3. An Analysis of Consumption Expenditure in India, Dr. M. S. DESHMUKH, S. S. VYAVAHARE, EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH, Vol. V, Issue 10/ January 2018. 
4. Rs 1,413: Avg monthly surplus for rural India is just enough to buy a fan,  Shreehari Paliath  , Business standard, September 24, 2018.
5. NAFIS Report Released by NITI AAYOG, 17 Aug 2018.
6. FAO. 2019. World Food and Agriculture – Statistical pocketbook 2019. Rome.
7. UNDERSTANDING URBAN FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIA, Riya Chaturvedi, Youth Policy review, June 30,2021
8. How is urban poverty different from rural?, RAMANATH JHA, URBAN FUTURES, NOV 25 2020, Observer Research Foundation