Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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Dr. Marion Herens

Member since
Organization: Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation
Country: Netherlands
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:

Food and nutrition security in urbanising societies, agro-nut pathways for nutrition security, health and nutrition security

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    • Dear FSN moderator,

      It is my pleasure – as programme manager -  to share a contribution from the WUR team involved in FAO’s Dhaka Food Systems Project currently ongoing in Bangladesh, We have pulled some of our ideas an resources together in response to the queries raised around strengthening urban an peri-urban food systems for FNS.

      Please find herewith our contribution from Wageningen University and research. In case of any question please fee free to reach out.

      COMMENTS

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

      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?

      Response:

      With reference to four years of comprehensive work covering four cities in the in the Dhaka Metropolitan area in the Support for modelling, planning and improving Dhaka’s food system (DFS) Project, led by FAO Bangladesh, and jointly implemented with Wageningen University and research (WUR), the defined scope touches upon on a set of highly relevant themes in the realm of strengthening food systems in urbanizing societies. However, the mode of scope articulation is at the same time quite generic and broad and seems to lack a bit a food systemic problem framing making more explicit what are the critical drivers and what are activities and outcomes of interest, in particularly reasoning from the ambition to consider the two interrelated phenomena of urbanisation and rural transformation in parallel. Highly interesting, but highly complex at the same time.

      From our work in the DFS project, which has put into practice a responsive approach working with he national and city governments, a few emerging areas of interest relate to:

      • rethinking food system governance across scales. Who sets the boundaries to urban/peri-urban food systems, formally but also informally. Who is responsible for urban food policy? Who holds the process of food system governance?
      • A focus on sustainable healthy diets rather than on food and nutrition security, in line with earlier work of the HLPE on nutrition, also reflecting the growing body of research on planetary boundaries and the pressure of current food systems.
      • Addressing today urgencies next to applying long term planning: the development of planning approaches, processes, and tools to support anticipatory governance capacities building on foresight and scenario development techniques, necessary to understand dynamics across scales and timelines and thus building towards strategies to build an understanding on balancing  trade-offs, including who wins and who light loose, identifying synergies and to support decision making.

      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.

      Feel free to check out our website

      https://www.wur.nl/en/research-results/research-institutes/centre-for-development-innovation/show-cdi/improving-dhakas-food-system.htm

      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?

      What we can share here are the lessons learned in the DFS project from initiating and facilitating city working groups and their road towards developing their city specific food charters.

      https://edepot.wur.nl/575023:. Lotte Roosendaal, MSc1, Marion Herens, PhD1, Riti Herman-Mostert, MSc1, Jainal Abedin, MBA2. 2022. The contribution of City Working Groups to Dhaka’s Food System Governance: first experiences and insights - Case-based experiences from the Dhaka Metropolitan Area. Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen

      https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/consumers-health-and-food-safety-perceptions-in-the-dhaka-metropo: Harriëtte M. Snoek, Haki Pamuk, Ireen Raaijmakers, Valerie C.J. Janssen, Kulsum Begum Chowdhury, Syeda Mahsina Akter, Siet J. Sijtsema (2021): Consumers’ health and food safety perceptions in the Dhaka metropolitan area, Wageningen Economic Research,  Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen

      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?

      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?

         
      2. 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?

      https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3423; Charlotte Van Haren, Inder Kumar, Anouk Cormont, Catharien Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Bertram De Rooij, Syed Islam, Peter Verweij: The Role of Spatialisation and Spatial Planning in Improving Food Systems: Insights from the Fast-Growing City of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3423; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043423

      Also feel free to cCheck out our planning tools developed under the DFS project:

      Interactive GiS Dhaka Food System: https://dhakafoodsystems.wenr.wur.nl/

      Food system foresight Dashboard: https://shiny.wur.nl/foresight-dhaka-food-system/

      Currently we are working on the process of transfer of tools to Bangladesh stakeholder

      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?

      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?

      Maybe this is of help:

      https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/land-use-classification-bangladesh-combining-and-downscaling-exis

      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?

      We have developed a Nutrition Strategy to strengthen nutrition sensitive action across all activities

      https://edepot.wur.nl/566606: S. Bakker, L. Roosendaal, M. Herens, A. Mishra, M. Chowdhury (2021); Nutrition strategy for the Dhaka Food Systems Project, Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen

      And a Gender strategy:  Riti Hermán Mostert, Janet Naco, Samprita Chakma, Md. Parvez, Melanie Kok, Harriette Snoek , Anouk Cormont, John Taylor (FAO Bangladesh), Jan Brouwers (2020): Dhaka Food System: gender analysis and strategy, Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen

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

      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?

      Still work in progress, but we have launched pilots on biogas digesters and black soldier fly rearing (reports forthcoming)

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

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

      We have, based on a range of consultations with a broad group of representatives in a dedicated foresight and scenario development process, drafted a Dhaka Food Agenda 2041with the ministry of local governance and the city corporations. This product is still up for feedback and validation with the GoB and will be launched in June 2023, therefore not to be made public at this stage. We could, however, make a request to send you a copy.

      A report on the foresight process can be found: Riti Herman Mostert, Marion Herens, Lotte Roosendaal, Jim Woodhill, Jainal Abedin, Pedro Garzon Delvaux, Jessica Gomes, Nazrul Islam, Anowarul Islam, Sahidul Islam, Sharifa Parvin, Syed Islam, Mohammad Asif Mahfuz, Sajia Ahmed, Nuary Totan, Sk Mohibullah. With organising support from Silvi Razzaque and Abdullah Maimun (2022): Dhaka Food Agenda 2041 Foresight and Scenario development: workshop report. Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen

      Kind regards/Kind regards,

      Marion Herens, PhD

      Sr. Advisor Food and Nutrition Security / programme manager