Cities are facing challenges in relation to food systems - ranging from food insecurity, unsustainable and unhealthy diets, to food waste - which increase pressure on natural resources and biodiversity and affect the health and lives of city dwellers.
Today up to 70% of all food produced is consumed in cities (FAO, 2017). Urban food consumption is one of the largest sources of urban material flows, urban carbon, and local footprints. Food consumption and waste management in cities thus play a vital role in building sustainable and resilient urban food systems. Cities offer the perfect environment for testing innovative local solutions to reduce the pressure from food systems on nature and promote sustainable development.
UNEP works with partners to highlight best practices and catalyse policy actions that are needed for leveraging local food actions, including urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). UPA can have nutrition, job, biodiversity, and circular economy benefits, especially on vulnerable populations.
Through context-based training, technical assessments, and multi-level stakeholder dialogues, UNEP has offered support to national and subnational governments in different countries – Rio de Janeiro State, in Brazil, Kampala, in Uganda; Semarang; in Indonesia; Port Louis and Vacoas, in Mauritius; and India – on how to integrate UPA into policy frameworks as a tool for integrated planning to meet sustainable food systems and resilient cities.
To achieve circular food systems in cities, UNEP encourages city-level food waste measurements (for example in Belgrade, Doha and Rio de Janeiro) and partnership building. It also facilitates South-South collaboration between cities and other stakeholders through its Regional Food Waste Working Groups.
