post-type: Blogs
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Why food is on the Climate Justice agenda
This article was originally published on Hivos. While the climate crisis poses a serious threat to global food security, the way we produce our food increases the pace and severity of climate change. But the consequences of these mutually reinforcing processes will be felt disproportionately by those least responsible for causing the problem: the urban…
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High time for resilient agriculture and food systems in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Author: Dr. Cheron Constance In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a volcanic eruption that flattened the agricultural sector has given greater urgency and impetus to efforts to ‘build back better’ from the COVID-19 crisis. Cheron Constance explains the effect of the eruption and its aftermath on farmers. She argues that to build back better, there…
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Agricultural extension support to urban farmers in Nairobi: The story of a farmers’ field day
by Samuel Ikua, Mazingira Institute With over 200 staff at the Food Agriculture and Forestry Sector and an Urban Agriculture Promotion and Regulation Act (2015), Nairobi City County is leading in urban agriculture in both policy and practice. Most importantly, it has agricultural extension officers in crops and livestock at the sub-county level. These…
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Role of City Region Food Systems in pandemic and climate shock recovery highlighted at GFFA
City region food systems help assure access to food when supply chains are impacted by climate shocks and stresses and pandemic infection control measures, and play a vital role in building back better, according to an expert panel at the 13th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) held on 18-22 January 2021. GFFA is…
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World Food Day 2020: We need to build a resilient post-Covid food system. Together.
Authors: Jess Halliday and Barbara Emanuel The theme of World Food Day 2020 – Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together – was probably settled well before Covid-19 arrived on Planet Earth, killing more than a million people, devastating economies, and laying bare the fragilities and inequalities of the food system. But the importance of working together is…
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COVID-19: a growing opportunity for community gardening in London
Authors: Victoria Schoen (University of Kent) and Chris Blythe (Social Farms & Gardens) As the UK went into COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, many community gardens in London stepped up as emergency food providers, despite unclear government advice on whether they could continue operating. Highlighting the flexible, community-centred approach of such gardens, as well as…
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Breaking Gender Norms: Lessons from the Women’s Food Lab in La Paz, Bolivia
Author: Nicole Szucs The deployment of Hivos’ Food Lab methodology in a women-only setting in La Paz, Bolivia, allowed stakeholders to hear from and truly involve female participants, who often lack a voice. The process led to the unexpected conclusion that the best approach to addressing gender issues is not always as concrete as lobbying,…
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Next UAM: Beyond 20 years of RUAF
This year marks the 20th anniversary of RUAF and Urban Agriculture Magazine. Over the last two decades we have played a leading role in advancing urban food systems transformation through action and advocacy, and in knowledge brokering between science, policy and practice. Each year, more international organisations have joined the urban food policy community, bringing…
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The Gender Agenda for Agriculture in Analamanga, Madagascar
Author: Vololontsoa Volatiana Razafindratoanina, DRAEP Analamanga Women in Analamanga (the city region of Antananarivo) face considerable disadvantages in developing and professionalising agricultural activities, but the Regional Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (DRAEP) is planning initiatives to close the gender gap. Women are majority participants in the rural economy of Analamanga. They…
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The Women Producers’ Markets of Mezitli, Turkey
Author: Jess Halliday The Turkish city of Mezitli established its first markets exclusively for women producers in 2014. Six years later, some 650 women hold stalls at nine bi-weekly markets across the city, selling fruit and vegetables, olive oils, cakes, breads, desserts, teas, and all manner of other home-produced items. Hurrem Betul Levent Erdal, programme…