Yes, the report provides a clear picture on how food systems can be transformed for the benefit of the cities/town population. There is a need to trade-off between agriculture production and agro-processing in the context of urban vs rural setting, due to the fact that there is inadequate land in the towns/cities. The issue of land has been covered well, but it needs more emphasis regarding putting policies on availability and affordable land for food and agriculture production in the town planning processes. By the way, I am not sure if is there any country with a policy on urban and peri-urban food systems?
If possible, the government may look at resettlement initiatives as many cities and towns are unplanned (squatters). And also, link the urban food systems with youth and women in terms of accessing technologies, knowledge and farming skills – how the R&D institutions can target urban food production.
The most critical aspect from food production right to consumption is food waste among urban populations – thus the need to devise technologies and supportive measures targeting the households. This also can go in tandem with mindset change in terms of food habits and culture.
The report is silent on indigenous food, as this is critical for food diversification and nutrition in urban population. Currently, many of the urban populations are the ones who suffer a lot in non-communicable diseases as opposed to the rural populations, implying that consumption of local food has led to healthier being. It is also imperative to emphasize food safety as most of the water sources in our cities/towns, particularly in the Global South are more polluted
How can we make the food supply chains more efficient and economical, something which will attract bankable investments and lure more entrepreneurs. In this regard, there is a need to raise educational campaign for any urban farming to apply highly adaptable and resilient technologies and innovations.
The need to devise urban food security platforms for sharing the practices and issues among proponents of the urban food systems, and also most importantly, particularly at the Municipal/City Councils to assign a desk or focal point responsible for overseeing urban food systems. The said platforms can also organize annual conferences for sharing information. But at the entry point, we need to develop a baseline data, and subsequent time series dataset against which, the performance/ achievement and impact can be derived – a strong M&E systems. I want also to emphasize here that the report should state for sound and coherent data and information which can be input a e-database/platform – this can also assist in conducting urban and peri-urban food system simulation and prediction.
Dr. Deogratias Lwezaura