Urban Food Production: a complementary strategy for urban food security and healthy cities

1. Urban Food Production: a complementary strategy for urban food security and healthy cities Presentation 2003 Healthy Cities Conference Belfast, Session on “Urban Food and Agriculture”, October 20, 2003 Ir. Henk de Zeeuw, ETC-RUAF

2. Urban Agriculture • Worldwide about 800 million people are engaged in intra-urban and peri-urban agriculture (UNDP,1999). • It is an urban phenomenon and not a relict of rural habits of recent migrants, that will dwindle over time. • The importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture as a strategy for enhancing urban food security and poverty alleviation is increasingly recognised • Urban food insecurity is quickly growing a/o due to growing poverty, uneven distribution of access to food, social exclusion, HIV / AIDS and increasing market dominance of super markets.

3. Positive impacts of urban farming on nutrition and health • Enhanced food security: better access of the urban poor to food (at affordable prices, nearby) • Better nutrition: enhanced local availability of nutritious fresh food including organically grown food • Through savings on food costs and sales of surplus products more cash becomes available a/o for health care and education • Social inclusion of disadvantaged groups (female headed households, jobless youth, pensioners, families with HIV-AIDS) • Contributions to urban environmental management (urban greening, recycling of urban organic wastes) • Cleaning of risky derelict areas; community revitalisation • Physical exercise / psychological relaxationa. by urban gardeners b. by citizens on peri-urban farms as “hotel” or “nursing home”

4. Health concerns regarding urban food production • 1. Contamination of crops with: • pathogens (unhygienic handling of products, use of untreated wastewater • heavy metals (soils, water and air pollution by traffic and industry) • 2. Spread of diseases due to closeness of animals to human beings (zoonosis) • 3. Overuse of agrochemicals • 4. Disease vectors attracted by agriculture activity (especially irrigated and ridge cultivation)

5. Towards safe and productive urban food production: Some elements for action • Experience shows that purely restrictive policies regarding urban agriculture,as well as “laissez faire” policies, are contra-productive. Facilitating & guiding policies are needed. • Urban agriculture is a cross-sectoral issue that requires a multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach • Cooperation between local authorities and local farmer groups, NGO’s and community based organisations is crucial. • Land tenure and gender issues play an important role

6. >Creation of a multi-stakeholder urban food policy council for the development of adequate urban food policies and joint action planning • Integration of urban agriculture in urban land use plans and adaptation of existing norms and regulations • Leasing vacant municipal land to organised groups for food production and greening (purpose specific leaseholds) • Facilitating the creation of adequate infrastructure for input supply, processing and marketing of locally produced food • Promotion of safe re-use of urban organic solid waste and wastewater What Municipalities can do:

7. What Health authorities can do: • Conducting integrated health impact assessments on urban agriculture • Periodic monitoring of the quality of soils, irrigation water and crops in urban food producing areas • Adequate measures to prevent contamination of soils and streams by industry • Education of urban farmers and local food processors and vendors on the management of health risks associated with urban agriculture

8. What agricultural research and extension organisations can do: • > Developing adequate technologies for sustainable production under urban conditions (land scarcity, proximity to people, re-use of urban waste resources, cultural variation in food preferences) • > Training of urban farmers in ecological and safe farming practices • Assistance to cooperative and enterprise development • Enabling access to credit and market information

9. WhatNGO’s and CBO’s can do: • >Assisting urban farmers and local communities to analyse their food situation and the local food production and distribution system • >Developing plans for community supported activities regarding local food production and distribution • Guiding the implementation of backyard gardening projects, establishment of local garbage collection and composting systems, creation of farmers’ markets, etcetera • Lobbying for adequate policies and action plans regarding urban food production and distribution

10. Discussion on Urban Food and Agriculture • Potentials and risks of urban food production for urban health and nutrition • Adequate policies regarding urban agriculture; lessons learned

11. THANK YOUSEE THE DISPLAYS FOR MORE INFORMATION Further contacts E-mail: RUAF@etcnl.nl Phone: +31-33-4326039 Website: www.RUAF.org