FAO: Food for Cities Program

Building sustainable and resilient city region food systems

A city region food system approach recognizes that there is great diversity between contexts, the nature of urbanisation, sizes of urban centres (from small and intermediate towns to megacities), types of food systems, and nature of ties with the surrounding countryside and rural populations. It is a cross-sectoral, multi-level, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder approach.

In an urbanizing world, dynamic food systems are affected by changes in social, physical and ecological factors. Food insecurity and malnutrition concerns need to be addressed in urban areas as much as in rural areas. City region food systems encompass the complex network of actors, processes and relationships involved in food production, processing, marketing and consumption in a given geographical region. A flow of people, goods and ecosystem services exists across this regional landscape. This rural-urban continuum fosters interdependence of rural and urban economies.

IWEFAO: Food for Cities Program