Urban Food Actions Platform

Food production depends and impacts on ecosystem services and biodiversity, with spillover effects going beyond food. Urban and peri-urban agriculture and food processing can contribute to improving the resilience of territories in the face of climate change, natural disasters and disrupted suppy chains. Urban food consumption can also influence where and how food is produced. 

How can you optimize agriculture production while managing ecosystem services and biodiversity and improving resilience to climate change? Numerous examples are presented, explaining how to implement sustainable urban and peri-urban food production and processing; how these can mitigate the heat island effect, prevent floods, reduce the energy needed for cooling and heating buildings, improve social inclusion, (indirectly) raise awareness on combating food waste, or contribute to better access to healthy, diversified and fresh products. Resources on Urban and Peri-Urban Forestry are also available.

 

Related Resources

Sustainable diets and nutrition, Food production and ecosystem management - Articles
This article shows the results of a two-year pilot study carried out by the University of Sussex on city allotments in Brighton and Hove.The aforementioned study demonstrates the value of urban food production and how it could be used to reduce food deserts by growing food “closer to where people are” while...
United Kingdom (Europe)
2021 - Miranda Bryant
Food production and ecosystem management - Articles
This comic strip is the story of research carried out on individual vegetable gardens over four years in the Montreal region. The reader will discover the importance of urban gardens for food production, for the healthy and greener cities, but also for gardeners. Urban gardens, in fact, represent an important...
Canada (North America)
2021 - Eric Duchemin
Food production and ecosystem management - Reports & Case Studies
Two young urban entrepreneurs present their experience in producing yoghurt from goat milk in urban context.
Kenya (Africa)
2021 -
Governance and planning, Food production and ecosystem management, Food supply and distribution - Reports & Case Studies
Across Asia, cities are contending with a wide range of food-related issues but most lack a dedicated or coherent set of food policies. For most cities in Asia, food has been a policy and governance blind spot, while national food policy has distinctly lacked an urban perspective. Arguing that food...
(Asia and the Pacific)
2021 - Acharya, Gayatri; Cassou, Emilie; Jaffee, Steven; Ludher, Elyssa Kaur
Food production and ecosystem management - Academic Literature
 The results of the JArDinS study—conducted in the Greater Montpellier area—did not reveal any changes towards more sustainable lifestyles among community garden users a year after they began participating in the garden.  Novice gardeners mentioned several difficulties in getting involved in their community garden, which they visited irregularly. This...
France (Europe)
2021 - Marion Tharrey, Nicole Darmon