post-type: Blogs

  • The Women Producers’ Markets of Mezitli, Turkey

    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…

  • Addressing Gender Inequalities in Quito’s Food System

    Addressing Gender Inequalities in Quito’s Food System

    Author: Alexandra Rodríguez, Economic Development Agency, CONQUITO, Head of AGRUPAR Gender justice and women’s empowerment are central to Quito’s participatory urban agriculture project, AGRUPAR, both as a means of food security and nutrition and as a final goal. This article provides insights into how gender-related data informs the project, the threats faced by women farmers,…

  • A Call for Transformative Actions on Gender and Inequality

    A Call for Transformative Actions on Gender and Inequality

    The new issue of Urban Agriculture Magazine (UAM37), Gender in Urban Food Systems, is now published. The articles in this issue identify the ways in which gender and inclusivity have been neglected in urban food policy, practice and research. The editors call upon the international community to lead the way in enabling truly transformative actions…

  • Understanding Nairobi’s urban agriculture sector helps to enhance equality and climate resilience

    Understanding Nairobi’s urban agriculture sector helps to enhance equality and climate resilience

    Author: Carolyn Fry This article originally appeared on: https://wle.cgiar.org/understanding-nairobi%E2%80%99s-urban-agriculture-sector-helps-enhance-equality-and-climate-resilience  Food makes up almost half of trading in the vibrant informal sector of Kenya’s capital city. Every day, farmers, processors and traders sell goods that are either locally generated or brought in from up-country. An estimated 250,000 households generate food within the city boundary. Together, these…

  • Urban agriculture thrives in Nairobi during COVID-19 crisis

    Urban agriculture thrives in Nairobi during COVID-19 crisis

    Author: Sam Ikua, Mazingira Institute The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted urban rural linkages, posing unprecedented challenges to cities and their systems. City lockdowns have affected the flow of people and goods into and out of cities. This disruption has created food shortages, putting a majority of the urban population at risk of being food insecure.…

  • A message from RUAF and ICLEI Africa on World Hunger Day

    A message from RUAF and ICLEI Africa on World Hunger Day

    Hunger knows no boundaries. It touches every facet of our societies, and makes plain the pains of poverty and inequality. Food is a strong connector, through socialising, cultural expression, community participation and interacting with nature. This is why hunger in our society impacts us all, and why we must strengthen our personal and organisational commitments…

  • Standing on the threshold: COVID-19 and our food system

    Standing on the threshold: COVID-19 and our food system

    Author: Barbara Emanuel I recently retired as Manager of the Toronto Food Strategy and retirement has thrust me into a liminal state. The word “liminal” means being on the threshold; it is a point or place of entering or beginning, when you are no longer in your current state but haven’t fully transitioned yet to…

  • Local food system responses to COVID-19: Toronto and its city region

    Local food system responses to COVID-19: Toronto and its city region

    Authors: Lori Stahlbrand (George Brown College) and Wayne Roberts (Food Systems Analyst) Toronto and its city region – known as the Greater Golden Horseshoe – is the most populous area in Canada, with nine million inhabitants. As in much of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the economy, leading to spiraling unemployment, increased food…

  • How Quito’s urban and peri-urban gardens contribute to the COVID-19 response

    How Quito’s urban and peri-urban gardens contribute to the COVID-19 response

    Author: Alexandra Rodríguez, Head of the Participatory Urban Agriculture Project AGRUPAR, Economic Promotion Agency CONQUITO With the spread of COVID-19, the world is in the throes of a global health crisis that will reshape the economy, society and politics, probably permanently. There is widespread concern about the impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods and…

  • City Region Food Systems to cope with COVID-19 and other pandemic emergencies

    City Region Food Systems to cope with COVID-19 and other pandemic emergencies

    Written by: Alison Blay-Palmer, Jess Halliday, Guido Santini, Makiko Taguchi, and René van Veenhuizen This blog has been developed by RUAF Partners with FAO and is also posted at the FAO City-region food system website, where you also find a series of blogs on various city and country experiences.   The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting…