Resources

Food environments play a key role in shaping eating habits. Meanwhile, green spaces – such as parks, sports fields, woods and natural meadows – are key for healthy lifestyles, not only providing urban dwellers with spaces for recreational and physical activities (as well as a refuge from noise), but also indirectly contributing to local communities’ […]

This report responds to several trends in Asia and the Pacific which have been increasingly recognized in the region. Together with rising urban poverty, the number of urban residents facing food and nutrition insecurity is increasing despite spending the majority of their earnings on food purchases. The COVID 19 pandemic has added greater stress to […]

The new issue of the Urban Agriculture Magazine analyses five key work areas for the coming decade: Resilience, Social inclusion, Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture, Urban Planning, and Governance. Resilience Food systems around the globe are highly vulnerable to the impacts of multiple hazards, including climate shocks, natural events, global warming, and political instability. People, assets […]

The purpose of this book is to set out the key lessons learned and to provide recommendations and guidance based on existing cases and examples for a wide range of actors involved in urban food systems. In particular, the aim is for this publication to serve as a sourcebook for local decision-makers, policy advisors, urban […]

This white paper outlines the ambition, approach and Theory of Change of one of Hivos’ three impact areas: Climate Justice. Hivos works with key rightsholder groups and social movements from the Global South in putting their priorities and agency at the center of global climate action. By forging multi-stakeholder partnerships and building on our track […]

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is the production of plants, fish, insects or animals inside structures, such as greenhouses and buildings, in controlled conditions. In a rapidly urbanizing world, CEA can contribute to sustainable development, e.g. through reduced use of land, water and inputs. There is a need for innovation in policy, technology and business practices […]

Este informe se basa en el estudio de caso durante la implementación del proyecto City Region Food System en Quito, que fue un resumen de algunos temas importantes para el desarrollo del sistema alimentario sostenible de las ciudades, como la producción y distribución de alimentos, el consumo de alimentos, la cadena de valor alimentaria. , […]

This factsheet provides information on the general knowledge collected by the city region food system (CRFS) project in its phase 2 regarding the assessment of risks for the CRFS of Tamale. The data was collected through literature review and stakeholder consultations. Cite this content as: FAO, RUAF and IWMI. 2021. Assessing risk in times of […]

This factsheet provides information on the general knowledge collected by the city region food system (CRFS) project in its phase 2 regarding the assessment of risks for the CRFS of Antananarivo. The data was collected through literature review and stakeholder consultations. Cite this content as: ​FAO. 2021. Assessing risk in times of climate change and […]

This factsheet is largely based on Thiel, F., Phillips, I. and N. Drechsel. 2019. Rapid Scan: Colombo City Region Food Systems and their vulnerability towards climate change related shocks. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 48 pp. It can be accessed here. It provides information on the general knowledge collected by the city region […]

This factsheet provides information on the general knowledge collected by the city region food system (CRFS) project in its phase 2 regarding the assessment of risks for the CRFS of Kigali. The information contained in this fact sheet is the result of literature review and data collected by the national project team. Cite this content […]

This second edition has been completely revised and updated, with new chapters and about 90 more pages to give a comprehensive overview of urban and peri-urban vegetable farming in and around Ghana’s major cities.

Cities have been recognized as playing a key role in building sustainable food systems. Now more urgently than ever, the challenges of rapid urbanisation, climate change and inequalities require transformative and comprehensive approaches to ensure long-term wellbeing for people, places and planet. In this evolving environment, policy makers and city governments need practical guidance to […]

Every five years the RUAF Global Partnership reviews its strategy. For the period 2018-2023, the RUAF Global Partnership supports and promotes knowledge exchanges between cities and towns on specific issues of sustainable food systems. 

A holistic food system approach involving all stakeholders is key to solving the urgent and interconnected challenges that our world is currently facing. A new retrospective study shows the degree to which the program’s Food Change Labs in Zambia and Uganda used systems thinking to successfully kick-start the transformation of local food systems in these […]

Interventions to improve the sustainability and nutrition of food can be misdirected when based on assumptions about people’s priorities and level of knowledge. When citizens have the capacity to act on their own priorities — in other words when they have agency — there is the potential to achieve better and more durable outcomes. This […]

This reflection paper documents the results of three multi-stakeholder initiatives (MAIs) that have come about through Hivos and IIED’s Sustainable Diets for All programme: the Food Parliament in Buikwe, Uganda; the Food Change Lab in Zambia; and the La Paz Food Council in Bolivia. The paper aims to strengthen our understanding of MAIs by showing […]

A holistic food system approach involving all stakeholders is key to solving the urgent and interconnected challenges that our world is currently facing. A new retrospective study shows the degree to which the program’s Food Change Labs in Zambia and Uganda used systems thinking to successfully kick-start the transformation of local food systems in these […]

Informal food systems contribute to the food and nutrition security of hundreds of millions of people around the world, particularly in the global South. But the concept of sustainable diets – which brings together global priorities around food and nutrition security, environmental protection and economic affordability – is built around the formal food systems of […]

In this issue of UA Magazine, we identify the ways in which gender and inclusivity have been neglected in urban food policy, practice and research.

Pay Drechsel, Senior fellow, International Water Management Institute (IWMI Cities, like any area where population densities peak, are hot spots for the spread of epidemics. This is even more pronounced in those that attract many rural-urban commuters. Or in international travel destinations. Clearly, if we are to control the spread of COVID-19, any countermeasures must […]

The right to food is recognised as one of the fundamental human rights within the global framework for sustainable development and it is embedded in different agendas. In order to promote prosperity and quality of life for all, the Right to the City, recognised in the New Urban Agenda signed in Quito, promotes ensuring that […]

The Veolia Institute has just published a new issue of Facts Reports on the theme of urban agriculture. To open up discussions on the topic a conference was organized with exchanges between researchers, innovative companies, architects and experts.

The menu of actions contains over 70 examples of policies and programmes that city governments have implemented to improve food security and nutrition by making healthy and nutritious food more accessible, desirable, and affordable.

This publication (in Spanish), looks at fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, comparing the production and transport of vegetables to the city of Rosario, Argentina with local production.

In this Urban Agriculture Magazine, we explore food policy councils, their approach to inclusiveness, their impacts, and challenges faced.

Research report on street vendors and informal food provision and urban food security of the working poor in Bandung City, Indonesia.

This research paper provides evidence on the current status, perceptions, challenges and policy context of the informal food markets in Zambia, from the perspectives of vendors, consumers, and policymakers in Lusaka and Kitwe. It identifies key points for action and policy.

This brief by the Nordic Food Policy Lab and Hivos, analyzes five inspiring healthy and sustainable gastronomy initiatives.