Managing city region food systems – Enhancing strength and resilience against pandemics and climate change

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) / RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems

Time: Tuesday, 19. January 2021, 08:00 – 09:00 (CET)
Languages: English, German, French

Panel guests will be announced soon

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, while 80% of all the food produced is destined for consumption in urban spaces. Social, economic, and environmental sustainability of food systems and the evolution of urban diets will largely depend on how food systems are managed in urban and peri-urban areas. The City Region Food Systems approach was developed to enhance resilience and sustainability of these food systems. This can be achieved by establishing multi-stakeholder governance platforms and by conducting assessments to identify bottlenecks and vulnerabilities of food systems in urban and peri-urban areas and their rural hinterlands, followed by contextualized action planning.

With support from the Federal Government of Germany, FAO is implementing programmes in different cities and countries using the City Region Food Systems approach and helps develop resilience to multiple risks in local food systems.

Yet, the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and climate shocks on vulnerable groups brought new urgency to the agenda.

The panel discussion will provide a forum for urban and national representatives to share experiences and review how the approach has helped them deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to define a vision on the way forward.