Challenges...

During the course of 2007, for the first timein history, half of the world’s population willbe living in cities. These will continue to bethe main centres of growth, expecting tohouse almost 5 billion people in 2030. Whilemegacities – with a population over 10million – will likely continue to grow in sizeand numbers, most of the increase isexpected to be absorbed by small – less than500 000 – and intermediate – 1 to 5 million– cities.

Urban-rural linkages will therefore becomeincreasingly important. Cities should be seenas engines of rural development, providingmarkets and infrastructure, as well as arange of support services essential for theincrease of rural productivity.

Food security, with the influx of rural poorand rising unemployment, has become amajor concern in most cities. Even so, thefood dimension of poverty in urban areas isnot given the appropriate attention in eitherpoverty reduction strategies or internationaldevelopment fora. Furthermore, policies andresources dealing with poverty, exclusion andinequality in cities remain highly inadequate.

As a result, urban diets are affected andmalnutrition has become a major concern.

Environmental issues – such as scarcity,degradation and contamination of land,water and forest resources – generated bypoorly planned urbanization are coming tothe forefront. The risk of disasters increaseswith significant numbers of predominantlypoor populations exposed to floods andlandslides.

[...] urban poverty tends to be fuelled by people migrating towards the cities in anattempt to escape the deprivations associated with rural livelihoods. Partly due to therural decline, the world is urbanizing at a fast pace and it will not be long before agreater part of developing country populations is living in large cities. Therefore, urbanfood security and its related problems should also be placed high on the agenda in theyears to come.

Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General. The State of Food Insecurity

in the World 2006, FAO

Food security, nutrition andlivelihoods

Production systems – Urbanand peri-urban agriculture

Food marketing anddistribution

Food processing and streetfoods

Environment

Rural-urban linkages

Policy, planning and institutions

Cities in crises

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Neither the Millennium Development Goals nor

the World Food Summit’s goals will be achieved

if appropriate attention is not given to cities and

rural-urban linkages.

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Food for the CitiesMultidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURALORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Viale delle Terme diCaracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy www.fao.org/fcit/index.asp

FAO’s response and action...

Harmonious urban development willrequire an integrated approach, involvinggovernment institutions and localauthorities, as well as development agenciesand the civil society. FAO has a key role toplay in the management of natural resourcesfor food security and sustainable urbandevelopment, and, to this end, hasestablished a multidisciplinary initiative.Since 2001, the Food for the Cities initiativehas been contributing to increased dialogueand partnerships with institutions atinternational and national levels, and inparticular with municipalities. Technicalassistance and support in policy formulationand urban planning to institutions andgroups is required, in order to ensure accessof the urban population to safe food andhealthy and secure environments.

Urban food security necessitates a reliableyear-round supply. This food is producedboth, in rural areas and in urban and peri-urban areas. The challenge of feeding citiesconsists in facilitating access to food byconsumers and creating favourableconditions to ensure the investments neededto increase food production, processing anddistribution capacities; and facilities andservices under hygienic, healthy andenvironmentally sound conditions.

Food production, processing anddistribution also contribute to thelivelihoods of urban people and areimportant sources of income andemployment. Support to small-scale foodand agriculture activities should therefore beseen as a key component of urban povertyalleviation.

Environmental sustainability is a key issuein the frame of urban development.Therefore, appropriate techniques andpractices should be promoted to ensure food

safety and healthy environments, preventsoil erosion and floods, and protect andimprove water and air quality.

FAO has been taking action through avariety of activities including theorganization of national and inter-countryworkshops on urban food supply, urbanand peri-urban agriculture, urban forestryand low-income producer organisations;production of written and audio-visualresource materials; and participation ininternational fora and networks.Furthermore, FAO provides technicalassistance at regional, national, and locallevels, through supporting or implementingNational Programmes for Food Security,emergency relief operations, TeleFoodprojects and decentralized cooperationprojects, many of which are relevant tourban development.

The task of feeding the world's cities adequately constitutes an increasingly pressingchallenge, requiring the co-ordinated interaction of food producers, transporters,market operators and a myriad of retail sellers. [...] Not least, it involves a sharedunderstanding among city officials and national and international developmentagencies of the common problems and the potential solutions faced when seeking tofeed cities on a sustainable basis.

Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General. The State of Food and Agriculture 1998, FAO

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Food consumption and nutritional well-being. People whomove to cities must adopt new methods of acquiring, preparingand eating food. Many city-dwellers have limited time forshopping and cooking and they rely increasingly onprocessed and convenience foods, including street foods.Poor shelter, lack of sanitation and hygiene and insufficientsocial services in slum areas further compound the problemsof the poor. As a result, under-nutrition and micronutrientdeficiencies, coupled with over-nutrition and rising problemsof obesity and diet-related chronic diseases can be found inmost cities. This situation is further exacerbated by low levelsof physical activity.

FAO’s response...Achieving good nutrition in urban areas requires an integratedstrategy: • the amount and variety of safe and affordable foodsrequired to meet nutritional needs must be available toeveryone year round; • people must have the means, knowledge, time andmotivation to purchase, prepare and consume the food theyneed for a healthy and active life; and • urban areas must be healthy and safe, provide basic servicesand ensure a favourable social environment.Focussing on food security, nutrition and livelihoods in urbanand peri-urban areas will help city-dwellers to attain a healthierlife. It will also allow municipalities to broaden their strategytowards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Urban food security,nutrition and livelihoods

Challenges...As people move to towns in search of better opportunities,accelerating urbanization brings new challenges. More peoplein urban areas mean that more food, more goods, more servicesand more employment opportunities must be provided.

Food security andlivelihoods. Whilethere are certainlymore foods availableyear round and morejobs and social servicesin urban areas, noteveryone is able tobenefit. A growingnumber of urbanpoor face a dailystruggle to feed theirfamilies. Poverty andunemployment are

often associated with social exclusion. This means thatmany poor people have neither physical nor economicaccess to adequate and safe foods, nor to the facilitiesrequired to store and prepare them.

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FAO’s action...Surprisingly, the worrying situation which is emerging in manycities has not generated the sufficient attention to foodsecurity and nutrition. Action needs to be taken urgently. FAOhas started to document the food and nutrition constraintsof the urban poor to raise awareness of decision-makers andenable its Member Nations to develop appropriate strategies toprotect and promote food security, nutrition and livelihoods inthe urban environment.

FAO and urban nutrition. Since the mid 1980s, FAO has beenworking on the following areas:• the impact of urbanisation on food supply;• the role and safety of street foods in the urban environment;• the impact of urbanisation on food security and foodconsumption patterns;• the assessment of dietary changes and nutritional status inurban areas;• and most recently, strategies to meet urban food securityand nutrition needs.

For further information:FAO, Nutrition and Consumer Protection Divisionnutrition@fao.orgwww.fao.org/ag/agn/index_en.stm

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy www.fao.org/ag/agn/index_en.stm

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Examples of current and recent activities. They includecase study reports on the double burden of malnutrition indeveloping countries; pilot testing of a participatorycommunity process to assess food and nutrition needs inslum areas and present them to relevant stakeholders atmunicipal level (India); projects to assess the nutritionalquality and safety of street foods (Burkina Faso, Guinea),and more specifically those sold to school children in urbanareas (Tanzania and Uganda).

Recent publication. On the basis of its collaboration withFAO in the slum areas of Bhuj, India, the Disaster MitigationInstitute (DMI) published, in collaboration with FAO, anExperience Learning Booklet entitled Participatory UrbanFood and Nutrition Security Assessment Process.

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Challenges...

Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture/Horticulture

Urban and peri-urban horticulture contributes to foodavailability - particularly of fresh produce - in cities, andprovides opportunities for employment and income.

Major environmental benefits and synergies can be achieved whenagriculture and green zones are planned for as part of the urbanlandscape, including safe recycling of waste.

The world urban population is expected to double in 30 yearsleading to a growing number of urban poor. The urbanpopulation expansion is more pronounced in developingcountries as result of the immigration from rural areas, aspeople flock to the cities in search of food, employment andsecurity.. The trend is accelerating, and by the year 2030, it isexpected that about 60% of the world’s population will beliving in cities. Such rapid urbanization and the harsh reality ofurban poverty require ad hoc strategies to ensure adequatefood supply and distribution systems to address escalatinglevels of urban food insecurity. Besides the growing demandfor food, there is a rapid increase of poverty, unemployment,hunger and malnutrit ion in the urban and peri-urbanenvironment around the world - issues that are of great concernto central and municipal authorities.

Within this reality, urban and peri-urban agriculture/horticulture(UPA/UPH) has become a key component of the survivalstrategies of poorer sections of the population while alsoproviding a significant contribution to the urban fresh foodsupply chain. UPA/UPH is also a source of employment andincome, and has the potential to improve the nutrition ofdisadvantaged urban residents. A key challenge is developingpolicy, strategies and technical support mechanisms ad hoc forthe sustainable management of urban and peri-urbanagricultural systems, addressing production issues andmarketing needs within a broader framework of environmentalplanning and management, water supply and utilisationschemes, and food safety assurance.

FAO´s response...Since 1999, FAO has been formally mandated by its membershipto deal with UPA as an integral part of agricultural productionsystems, and to specifically consider its contributing role infeeding the cities, creating employment and generating incomefor the urban poor. FAO is committed to assisting membernations to integrate UPA as a component within national foodsecurity programmes, and to supporting capacity building fortheir successful implementation. A multidisciplinary approachhas been adopted within FAO to respond to the need foreffective development and management of urban and peri-urban agriculture systems, with several departments anddivisions involved in supporting programme and projectactivities. The Organization also engages with local authoritiesand policy makers to support the development of policy advice,strategies and technical guidelines within an integratedapproach to the sustainable management of agriculture in urbanand peri-urban zones.

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UPA and the Special Programme for Food Security(SPFS): FAO is providing guidance and assistance to membercountries, through the incorporation of urban and peri-urbanhorticulture into existing agricultural development and NationalFood Security Programmes (NFSP), as well as assuring technicalsupport for on-going local project delivery in urban and peri-urban agriculture. The SPFS, in particular, is a multidisciplinaryprogramme that combines expertise and experience from awide range of fields to promote an integrated and participativeapproach to food security. Its design includes an element ofurban and peri-urban agriculture, aimed at improving accessto food and advancing the livelihoods of people living in andaround cities.

FAO´s action...

Support for Capacity Building: FAO is working with decision makers in member countries with the objective of strengtheningnational capacity for policy and strategy development related to urban and peri-urban agriculture. Regional workshops held inAsia and Southern Africa with strong support from Norway, Belgium and other donors have recently provided opportunities forsharing experiences among countries and cities of the South, and sharpened focus on the actual techniques and strategies forimproving small-scale horticulture and its value chain in, and around, urban areas.

Cheap and simple micro-garden technologies enable city dwellerswithout any land to grow healthy greens.

Good agricultural practices are the foundation of capacity building efforts to ensurethat UPH is environmentally sustainable and that the produce grown is of highquality and safe for consumption.

Strengthening National Pilot Interventions and Projects: FAO plays an active role by interacting with the donor communityto mobilize funds and assist member countries to initiate or strengthen national initiatives on UPA/UPH through the implementationof short- and medium-term projects. Recently, opportunities for “decentralized cooperation” offered by some countries of theNorth have been captured, enabling a broad stream of benefits to flow from city-to-city programmes of assistance.

Partnership Activities and Linkages: The characterof the “Food for the Cities” multidisciplinary area is mir-rored in FAO’s links and partnerships with other organi-zations that are actively working in the field of UPA.Furthermore, within the implementation of a relatedprogramme - the FAO/WHO Global Fruit and Veg-etables for Health Initiative - UPH and horticulturesupply chain improvement are being supported as keycomponents. IDRC and RUAF are long-standing part-ner organizations, and a close partnership has recentlybeen forged with CIRAD (French Agricultural ResearchCentre for International Development) and itsprogrammes in the area of urban and peri-urban horti-culture. FAO is also pursuing opportunities for jointcooperation with the “Urban Harvest” Initiative of theCG System, the International Society for HorticulturalScience (ISHS) and the Global Horticulture Initiative(GHI) in order to address emerging researchable is-sues related to UPH.

Food for the Cities – Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONShttp://www.fao.org/fcit/index.asp

For further information, contact:FAO, Crop and Grassland ServiceViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, ItalyE-mail: AGPC@fao.orgWeb site: http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/crops/4c.htmlAskFAO: www.fao.org/askfao/home.do?lang=en

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with urban or peri-urbanareas and driven more byaccess to feed and lowerland and labour costs. In many developingcountries the phenomenonof keeping animals in urbanand peri-urban areas isincreasing. Urban poverty,exacerbated by the “urbandrift”, means that every opportunity to produce food or generateincome from what is essentially a free resource is exploited to thefull. While keeping a few, confined small-stock to supplement thefamily diet and income offers little environmental risk, real risksoccur in developing and emerging economies with growingconurbations that have not developed the sophisticatedinfrastructure necessary to disaggregate livestock productionfrom the consumption centres. Large commercial, highlyintensive, livestock production units rearing pigs, broilers, layers,milk (cattle and buffalo colonies) around conurbations in China,South-East Asia, the Indian sub-continent and South America area major environmental and public health concern.The challenge is to develop coping strategies that address theimmediate environmental and public health issues associatedwith urban and peri-urban livestock keeping and thus buy timefor longer term economic growth and infrastructure investment

in roads, communications and energy. Theimplementation of such strategies should, however, notnegate the benefits and low risks, for both owners andconsumers, associated with small-scale household orcommercial livestock production.

Urban livestock, food security

or environmental hazard?

Challenges…Keeping livestock in urbanor peri-urban environmentsis not new. Historicallyhumans have always beenclosely associated with theirlivestock, often sharing thesame dwelling. All speciesare involved: poultry,rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs,sheep, goats, cattle evenbuffalo. Having yourmarket often literally onyour doorstep ensures thatthe consumer has a freshproduct. The producer inmost cases also has better

access to goods and services: veterinary care, drugs, feeds etc.With increasing urbanisation and economic growth, thedemand for animal food increases and large scale productionoperations emerge. Initially, given the perishable nature ofanimal products, inadequate conservation, transport withoutchilling or processing, production is located in and aroundtowns and cities close to consumer demand. In countries withwell developed infrastructure, high employment and high percapita income, livestock raising is no longer closely associated

Disease transmission risks exist and may beprevented. Following good practices, animals may play an important role as wastecleaners. Scavenging local poultry in Bogor,Indonesia

Small ruminants raised in the cities is verycommon and generate important incomesfor the urban poor

Smaller scale enterprises and the use of small animals allows for better marketing opportunities. Small scale commercial poultry farmers in Bogor, Indonesia

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Special Programme for Food Security. Livestock keepingis a major activity of the SPFS. For example, in Chad, thehigh demand for poultry meat and eggs in the urbancentres provided an important marketing opportunitywhich was not satisfied by domestic production. Localfarmers lacked the resources to obtain a regular supply ofimproved birds or quality feeds and it was difficult to obtainreliable access to veterinary services, drugs and vaccines.Using modern constraints analysis and a consultativeprocess combined with training in improved technologies,the SPFS promoted affordable and practical interventionsfor successful peri-urban poultry keeping that provided realbenefits to producers and consumers.

Animal waste management. Some of the largestconcentrations of intensive livestock production in peri-urban areas are to be found in East Asia. Pollution frominappropriate manure disposal is a major environmentalconcern. LEAD, with funding from the Global EnvironmentFacility (GEF), implemented a project for China, Thailandand Vietnam entitled Livestock Waste Management in EastAsia. The project addressed major environmental threats bydeveloping policies that balance the location of livestockproduction operations with the appropriate land resources,and encourage the beneficial use of manure and othernutrients by crop farmers. At the national level, this projectstresses the need to plan in advance for the location offuture livestock development, so as to create the conditionsfor better recycling of nutrients.

FAO’s response and action...

FAO assists in developing strategies to address the issues facingurban and peri-urban livestock keeping. Capacity building isprovided through advice on good husbandry practices, animalhealth, small-scale processing, food safety, veterinary publichealth and policy support. On the practical side, the Special

Programme for Food Security (SPFS) operates in manydeveloping countries to improve food security at both nationaland household levels and is involved in peri-urban as well asrural areas. The Animal Production and Health Division alsohosts a dedicated programme dealing with livestock andenvironmental issues, the Livestock, Environment andDevelopment Initiative (LEAD), that focuses on pollution issuesassociated with intensive, peri-urban livestock production.http://www.virtualcentre.org

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Animal Production and Health DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, ItalyAGA-Registry@fao.org www.fao.org/ag/againfo/home/en/home.html

Poultry production around the cities improves householdfood security. Muscovy ducks is an important meat production practice in Angola

Animals provide cash and fresh produce in the inner city with little or no packing and processing. Cultural practices are a challenge

for good hygienic practices. Poultry marketing in Bogor, Indonesia

Producers can generate income by taking advantage of the high food demandand proximity of the city to market their products. SPFS’s goat and poultry rising in Tsevié, Togo

Banner photos:FAO/10972/F. MattioliFAO/J.A. ScagliaFAO/19447/R. FaiduttiFAO/18080/M. Griffin

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livelihood of the poor, as well as to the wellbeing of the society asa whole. But land insecurity, the poverty of the population andinstitutional weaknesses remain major constraints to theconservation and restoration of tree systems in a harmonious wayand a long-term perspective.

FAO’s response…By gathering world expertise, knowledge and best practices, FAOhelps promote urban and periurban forestry with special attentionto poverty alleviation, food security and environmentalsustainability. FAO assists countries in developing national and localstrategies, legal and institutional framework and programmes thatensure harmony between sectors, disciplines and institutions.Dialogue is central for designing and agreeing on fair andequitable options also based on local knowledge. Some majorforum where FAO is an active actor and could raise urban forestryin the international agenda, are the UN Convention to CombatDesertification (UNCCD), the Mountain Forum, the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and UN-Habitat and itsWorld Urban Forum. In line with the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, attention is given to poverty alleviation, livelihoodimprovement of poor dwellers and environmental sustainability.FAO promotes the optimization of trees and forests for a healthygreen city designed and managed in response to its specificsocioeconomic identity, and its landscape and ecosystemic context.

Forest and trees, improving livelihood

through healthy green cities

Challenges…The urban demographicsituation across the worldputs the environmentalsustainability of the cities and the wellbeing of theinhabitants at stake. Theintensification and extensionof cities without taking intoaccount the land-use capacityand the local need for woodybuilding material andfuelwood, has contributed toa drastic depletion of tree and

forest cover in and around cities. This is a common situation indeveloping countries and countries with economies intransition. Cities consequently suffer from floods, dustencroachment, water shortage, soil erosion and landslidesassociated to significant costs in terms of lost infrastructure andhuman death. Other natural disasters, conflicts and warsexacerbate the situation.The major challenge is to give trees and forests their essentialplace in urban development. A green sustainable city is amosaic of hedgerows, windbreaks, home gardens, orchards,recreation parks and tree-lined streets distributed over private,communal and public lands. Trees and forests are appreciatedat the same time by various categories of urban dwellers. Theyare productive agroforestry systems, recreational green spaces,beautification elements, and contribute directly to the

Tree and forest products, such as wood, firewood, fodder, medicine and food, generate income, employment and improve livelihoods. Tehran outskirts, Iran

Tree cover has a positive impact oncommunity well-being and recreationalactivities

Lack of trees results in economic losses. Trees save energy for cooling andheating as they reduce high temperatures and protect from cold winds.Urbanization around Izmir, Turkey

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Examples of FAO’s activities:• policy briefs development to provide guidelines formunicipal and national policy-making on urban and periurbanforestry;• strategies for urban forestry and priority action plansdevelopment, such as those for Bamako (Mali) and Bangui(Central African Republic);• information, need analysis and awareness raising, e.g. casestudies on the status of urban forestry in Amman, Abu Dhabi,Astana, Cairo, Dakar, Izmir, Kabul, Niamey, Quito, Teheran andYerevan;• regional studies on the role of the forestry sector inurbanization, such as the regional Forestry Outlook for Westand Central Asia (FOWECA);• thematic studies on the analysis of the social andenvironmental impact of the wood-energy demand and supplyon urban development, for example, in East Africa and South-East Asia.

FAO’s actions...

FAO’s support to the development of urban forestryincludes:• developing policies and strategies for urban and peri-urban forestry with the participation of urban dwellers,institutions and authorities involved at national anddecentralized levels, e.g. municipal, government and NGOs;

• building synergy andcollaboration in actionsrelated to urban agriculture,mountain and watershedmanagement, integratedlandscape management,urban development; andpromoting cooperationamong practitioners fromvarious disciplines andsectors;• implementing goodpractices in the domains of resource management,e.g. use of waste water,arboriculture and agroforestry,and integrated urbanplanning, e.g. resources

assessment, economic valuation, participatory approachesand watershed management;• encouraging worldwide dialogue, where governments,local authorities, communities, smallholders, NGOs,municipalities, universities and private enterprises canexchange on needs, opportunities and collaboration.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Forest Conservation ServiceViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italyurban-forestry@fao.org www.fao.org/forestry/site/tof/en/

The depletion of trees and forests in andaround cities may produce infrastructurelosses and human deaths

The integration of trees and forests in and aroundurban areas is an indispensable element of sustainability for the whole society

Urban trees mitigate air pollution and help to preserve human health

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Water use and reusefor urban agriculture

Challenges...Water use has beengrowing at more thantwice the rate of thepopulation increase duringthe last century. In rapidgrowing urban centres,water has become a fragileand scarce resource in acompeting environment. Inmarginal zones of mega-cities, often characterized

by a high incidence of poverty, many people practice agricultureon a very small scale to satisfy their basic food needs. Withplacing demands on water allocation to support urban and peri-urban communities’ livelihoods, agriculture has respectivelygrown with urban and peri-urban irrigation mainly as an

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Pollution from ore processing into karsticbase flows in Hunan Province, China

Intensive pumping causes the depletion ofhigh quality groundwater in Yemen

Promotion of best practices for sustainable water use in developingcountries

FAO’s response...FAO assists by providing a coherent and comprehensive set ofinformation, policy advice and technical support to countries andstakeholders that allows them to better address integrated waterissues at local, national and river basin levels. The water-food-sanitation Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) targets will not be met without better governance andinnovative approaches whereby urban governments, water andsanitation agencies, as well as other sectoral institutions need tocoordinate and extend provision of water supply in an integratedmanner. Taking an integrated, multiple or productive usesapproach to water development and management is anopportunity to advance progress toward the MDGs. Localauthorities contribute to the MDGs, and a multidisciplinaryapproach is needed to consider the social, economic, cultural,legal and institutional constraints oriented to local communities,urban centres, rural areas, user groups, and administrative, publicand private organisations.

Imbalances between availability anddemand, degradation of groundwater

and surface water quality, inter-sectoralcompetition, inter-regional and

international conflicts, all bring waterissues to the forefront.

“informal” activity practicedby individuals and farmers’associations. Localized sources of water, which include groundwater, streams,urban drains, piped water and (un)treated wastewater, in urbancentres of low to medium-income nations are likely to be severelycontaminated due to the concentration of habitation withrudimentary sanitation arrangements and unregulated municipaland industrial effluents. Management of water resources hasbecome an urgent issue as urban and peri-urban farmers oftenapply water from municipal sewage, mostly in its untreated form,to irrigate and for plant nutrients, thereby increasing the risk forillnesses to both the farmers and the consumers. Furthermore,the destruction of shallow riverine and coastal aquifers, throughover-pumping and pollution, has greatly added to the water crisisin many cities.

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FAO’s action...FAO’s water-related projects and programmes in support ofurban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) address a number ofchallenges in ensuring that water for irrigation is adequatevis-à-vis sanitation, nutrition, water and food quality andsafety, equitable access to water, reconciling urban andrural priorities, and sustainable wastewater managementfor a clean and safe environment. FAO’s support of water in urban and peri-urban agricultureincludes:

• water saving technologies,including pressurized irrigationsystems, e.g. drip irrigation,sprinklers;

• water development andmanagement for appropriatecropping systems andurban landscaping, includingadvances in in-field applicationand drainage, the use ofwastewater for irrigation,conjunctive use, aquifer-storage-recovery;

• water quality monitoring systems;

• guidelines to assist safe reuse of treated wastewater andgreywater, waste recycling such as eco-sanitation;

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Water Resources, Development and Management Service Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italywww.fao.org/ag/agl/contact.stm (e-mail)www.fao.org/landandwater/aglw

• economic appraisal of the opportunity costs of the waterresource base where competition between agriculturalproduction and water supply and sanitation exists — in bothrural and rural/urban settings - and economic instruments inwater resource allocation for agriculture;

• assessment of source vulnerabilities in rural/urban settingswhere resource degradation has become apparent;

• risk assessment to public health posed by agriculturalproduction, environmental control of vectors, and the use ofeffluent water in horticultural production in UPA settings;

• structured negotiation facilitation between disparate usergroups in urban and rural settings (the constituents of therelevant basin or aquifer);

• development of participatory planning procedures forcoastal zones, aquifers, administrations and economic sectorsand basin governance (the policy/legislation/institutionalreform continuum);

• partnership building with NGOs and through the UN-Watermechanism in efforts to achieve water and sanitation goals andtargets set at the 2002 World Summit on SustainableDevelopment and the MDGs.

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Water-saving technologies contributing to reduce pressureon limited water resources in Eritrea

Optimising space use. An eco-sanitation vegetable garden inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Treated sewage water used to irrigatenew tree plantations in Egypt

Hydroponics, as a soil-less technology, is adaptable to urbanfarmers to increase yield year-round

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An important aspect forpolicy consideration is the role played by theinformal sector in makingfood available to lowincome urban areas andin generating income forpoor families. This requires a positiveattitude by the authoritiesand special programmesto facilitate safe, informalfood trading activities.

FAO’s response...Market infrastructures, facilities and services are essentialelements of the food supply and distribution system (FSDS).These must be properly planned, maintained, managed anddeveloped to accommodate the rapidly increasing foodquantities coming to cities. There is growing awareness of the need for city and local authorities to be directlyconcerned with feeding their cities, and take on a proactiveand coordinating role in the development of sustainablemarket infrastructure and marketing services. FAO’s Food Supply and Distribution to Cities initiative, acomponent of FAO’s Special Programme for Food Security,promotes an interdisciplinary, multisectoral and participatoryapproach to finding sustainable solutions in planning andimplementing decisions to improve FSDS to cities, with directinvolvement from the private sector.

Urban food marketinfrastructure and services

Challenges…To achieve cost-effectivefood marketing,minimize post-harvestlosses, reduce healthrisks and ensure anadequate stability ofbasic food supply tocities, efficient marketinfrastructure such asassembly, wholesaleand retail markets,storage facilities, aswell as basic handlingand transport facilities

and services, are essential. Market infrastructure,facilities and services, equipped with new technology,such as refrigerated transportation and storage andinformation systems that track inventories, should beplanned at the regional, metropolitan and urban levels.As traditional systems are important sources ofemployment and revenue collection, authorities haveoften been reluctant to promote their modernization.However, improvements are now being considered asincreasing awareness of food safety issues, inunimproved traditional marketing systems, is nowbecoming evident and therefore the conflict betweentraditional and modern arrangements needs to beaddressed.

Transport costs often represent the bulk of marketing costs. Food transporters need roads,parking, loading, unloading, resting facilities, vehicle and cargo security

Congested urban markets cannot accommodate increasing quantities of food. The lack of space and adequate facilities in the markets increases food losses and marketing costs

Wholesale activities are often dispersedover the urban area, limiting the potentialbenefits to be derived from organizedwholesale markets

Waste from markets and slaughterhouses threatens health and contaminates food, soil, water and air

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Institutional strengthening. Various seminars and workshops, heldin Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near and Middle-East,strengthened the capacity of local authorities and institutionsresponsible for devising FSDS policies, strategies and action plans.Examples are:• FAO regional seminar Feeding Latin American Cities, La Havana,Cuba, 2003;• FAO-WHO-ONUDI national workshop Food safety in Algeria,Algiers, Algeria, 2003;• FAO-CIHEAM-ONUDI national workshop Food Supply andDistribution to Algiers, Algiers, Algeria, 2003;• FAO-CIHEAM sub regional workshop Feeding North African Cities,Meknès, Morocco, 2003;• FAO-WB-Municipal Authority of Addis Ababa sub-regional workshopFeeding Cities in the Horn of Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2002 (incollaboration with FAO-TCIR World Bank Horn of Africa Food SecurityInitiative);• FAO project Urban Food security in the city of Greater Amman, 2001(TCP/JOR/8923);• FAO-AFMA-CITYNET regional seminar Feeding Asian Cities,Bangkok, Thailand, 2000; • special event at the UN General Assembly on Food for the Cities withthe occasion of the Habitat+5 meeting, New York, June 2001.

FAO’s action…

Food Supply and Distribution to Cities. This initiativeincludes components particularly aimed at policy makers,local authorities, technical staff and researchers:• technical documentation as well as information andtraining products, distributed with the Food for the Citiescollection;• sensitisation seminars and workshops at regional, subregional and national level;• training services on demand;• technical assistance for the preparation of specific casestudies;• technical support in the formulation and implementationof local policies, strategies and action plans.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Agricultural Support Systems DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italyags-registry@fao.org www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

Non motorized transport helps keep food prices low, provides employment for young and poor people and does not pollute but contributes to traffic congestion in and around markets

The design, location and management of wholesale and retail marketsare important determinants of investment profitability and the cost of access to food by low-income households

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Spontaneous marketscause hygiene, security and trafficproblems butprovide food where it is neededand create employment

Key thematic areas of study and intervention:• modern distribution systems and facilities;• integrated development of intra-urban food transport;• hygiene and food handling, processing, storingtransporting and marketing;• services to urban market users;• policies and strategies to make FSDSs more efficient anddynamic;• role of public and private institutions, includingpromotion of market traders, shopkeepers, consumerassociations and organizations.

Information and training products. FAO has produced anumber of briefing guides to help policy makers andplanners understand the benefits of improving FSDS toCities. In particular, a number of planning guides related toplanning, establishment and management of marketinfrastructure, are available for downloading from the FAOwebsite. http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

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access adequate food isdetermined not only byprivate sector activitiesand investments butalso by the way thepublic sector – centraland local governments –intervenes in the foodmarketing system andaddresses constraintslimiting the efficiency ofactivities.

Impact of urbanization on food security. Expandingurbanization leads to increased competition for land on theurban perimeter. This, combined with rapid urbanpopulation growth, has led to food supplies having tomove over greater distances. Furthermore, increased foodsupplies have led to greater traffic congestion andpollution, and to stress being placed on the unimprovedand overloaded food distribution systems and marketinfrastructure.

New, improved and expanded marketing facilities arealso required due to changing food consumptionhabits, an increased demand for convenience andprocessed foods and the greater concern for foodquality and public health. For low-income families,decentralised food marketing facilities providing easyaccess to food supplies are essential, as the furtherthe distance from markets, the higher the time andtransport costs.

Urban food marketing

Challenges…As cities grow in populationand area they require moreextensive infrastructureand enhanced rural-urbanlinkages and marketingarrangements to bringincreasing quantities offood to consumers. Inreaching urban consumers,food passes through avariety of marketing andorganizational systemsand in many developingcountries, several factorsgenerate additional costsand raise consumer prices.Such factors include:market failures; poorlydeveloped urban food

systems; the absence of market transparency; a lack of scaleeconomies along the distribution system; high transportcosts and high physical losses at all levels of distribution. Food security concerns are especially important in cities indeveloping countries where urban poverty rates often exceed50 percent. The cost at which poor urban households

Informal food marketing is a source of employment and income for the poor,particularly woman and youth

Lack of space and simple facilities in urban markets amplify health and environmental risks

Markets need to be planned because they require space, parking, infrastructure and services, such as water, toilets and waste collection

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Institutional strengthening. FAO has been working over thepast twenty years to draw the attention of policy makers, at centraland local levels, to both the need and complexity of improvingfood marketing systems and infrastructure. FAO advisory bulletinson improving food marketing systems and linkages, and onplanning, establishing and managing market infrastructure areavailable. FAO encourages central and local authorities to:

• involve all concerned parties in identifying marketingproblems and challenges and include stakeholders inpolicy formulation and implementation;• plan the improvement of the food marketing chain,particularly by improving rural-urban linkages andincorporating marketing infrastructure decisions inurban planning; • improve the quality and safety of food by improvingpost harvest handling and marketing facilities.

FAO’s response and action…

In expanding urban areas, marketing facilities and other post-harvest infrastructure are usually limited and congested.Urbanization is largely unplanned and local authoritiesgenerally do not have clear policies on developing facilities tomeet their future needs.

Marketing interventions. The objective of marketinginterventions is to bring an improvement in the marketing of foodproducts and promote strategies that will improve urban foodsecurity. An efficient marketing system is a precondition foragricultural diversification and improved nutrition. This enablesbetter prices to be obtained by producers (leading to higherincomes) and improves the availability of competitively pricedproduce to consumers.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Agricultural Support Systems DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italyags-registry@fao.org www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

Good market management, maintenance and upgrading are as important as raising revenues

Small enterprises should be encouraged to adopthygiene and health standards in food processing

Low-income urban areas need simple retail markets. These have to be plannedand provided with protection from the sun, wind, dust and rain

Banner photos:FAO/10972/F. MattioliFAO/J.A. ScagliaFAO/19447/R. FaiduttiFAO/18080/M. Griffin AD

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Key thematic areas of study and intervention:• enhancing rural-urban linkages through systemsintegration and improved marketing infrastructure;• assembly, wholesale and retail market planning,design and management;• marketing extension training to apprise producers ofchanging market needs and opportunities;• marketing information provision to enhancemarketing and price transparency.

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Fresh foods

Challenges...Growth of urbanpopulations, changingconsumer perceptionsabout food safety andquality, together withincreases in urbanincome and purchasingpower, have led to a shiftaway from consumptionof staple carbohydratesand highly processedfoods, towards a demandfor higher value, fresh

and minimally preserved foods (especially fruit andvegetables) which are perceived to be nutritionally superior.This provides opportunities for improving supply chains forfresh produce, ensuring higher quality and safety forconsumers, and better returns for producers. Fresh foods consumed by urban consumers come mostlyfrom rural areas, and as cities expand, so does the length of

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Appropriate technologies and goodpractices prevent deterioration and maintainthe quality of fresh foods such as theseapples in a supermarket in Zambia

Packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables is an important step in the grower to urban consumer chain

FAO’s response...For fresh foods, FAO applies quality management systems such asGood Agricultural Practice (GAP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP),Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP ) and Hazard Analysis CriticalControl Point (HACCP), thereby assuring that quality is maintained ateach step of the supply chain. The Organization also works onenhancing value of produce through the application of cost-efficientand environmentally-sound technologies, particularly those whichcontribute to reducing losses, increase efficiency of the post-production system, and provide the quality and conveniencedemanded by consumers. At the institutional level, FAO engageswith local authorities, regulatory bodies and policy makers tofacilitate the provision of services and infrastructure required tomaintain quality and safety of food throughout the food chain.

the rural-urban supply chain.Owing to their high perishability,fresh foods must be handled withutmost care if their quality is to bemaintained from producer toconsumer. This poses a challengeto existing supply chains, wherequality of produce reaching urbanmarkets is generally inconsistent and frequently poses safetyhazards due to use of polluted water, inappropriate storageconditions including lack of temperature control, and poorhandling and transportation practices. Upgrading the qualityof fresh produce requires improved infrastructure, includingaccess to potable water, refrigeration facilities, newconservation technologies, appropriate packaging for storageand distribution, facilities for cleaning and waste disposal, andcritically, efficient transportation.

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Proper packing of freshproduce maintains quality

throughout the chain fromgrower to urban consumer.

Packages must protectproduce from mechanical

damage and adverseenvironmental conditions

FAO’s action...

Post-harvest operations. In its liquid form water is usedfor washing, hydro-cooling and flume transportation offresh fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers, while in the formof ice it is used for cooling to inhibit deterioration of freshfruits and vegetables. In developing countries variouschallenges are faced in sourcing water of high quality tocarry out these operations and there is usually a high risk ofcontamination of fresh produce by micro-organisms andpollutants contained in the water. FAO is currently workingthrough its normative programme to prepare a practicalmanual that will provide specific guidelines on standards forpotable water and best practices to be applied in the above-mentioned operations.

Technologies and goodpractices. In field projectsFAO is developing anddisseminating technologiesand good practices that areaimed at preventing theloss of millions of tonnes offresh fruits, vegetables, rootsand tubers in developingcountries due to inadequatehandling and storage, pestdamage, and transportand marketing problems.

FAO created the Information Network for Post-harvestOperations (INPhO) with the support and collaboration ofDeutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit(GTZ) and the Centre de coopération internationale enrecherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), toimprove access to technical data and foster exchange ofinformation among different actors, thereby fosteringactivities that are aimed at preventing these losses.www.fao.org/inpho

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, ItalyAGS-Registry@fao.orgwww.fao.org/ag/ags/home/en/agst.html

Packaging. Fresh foods supplied to urban areas must bepackaged appropriately in order to maintain quality, shelf-lifeand safety. In addition, the packaging used should offer theconvenience valued by urban consumers. In its normativeprogramme, FAO is carrying out studies aimed at increasing theavailability and affordability of packaging materials, andidentifying low-cost, small-scale options for packaging systemswhich are appropriate for developing countries in Africa, Asiaand Latin America.

Traceability systems. Fresh foods consumed in urban areas indeveloping countries are increasingly procured in supermarketsthat exert great influence over their suppliers in terms oftraceability. FAO has ongoing activities aimed at developingtraceability systems for the small-scale fresh fruit sector inKenya and South Africa.

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The quality, safety and convenience offered byfresh, packaged foods appeal to consumersliving a fast-paced urban life

With higher disposable income, urbanconsumers have better access toconvenient, easy-to-prepare meals

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Fresh produce on a supermarket shelf in Lusaka, Zambia.Supermarkets are emerging as major food retail outlets in urbanareas of developing countries. As farmers strive to meet the stringentquality requirements of these outlets, the quality and safety of foodsold locally improves

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importance of street foods but alsoof their associated risks. The majorconcern is related to food safety,but other concerns are alsoreported, such as sanitationproblems (waste accumulation inthe streets and the congestion of waste water drains), trafficcongestion in the city also forpedestrians (occupation of sidewalksby street vendors and trafficaccidents), illegal occupation of public or private space, andsocial problems (child labour, unfair competition to formaltrade, etc.).

...among which food safety. The risk of serious food poisoningoutbreaks linked to street foods remains a threat in many parts ofthe world, with microbiological contamination being one of themost significant problems. Food-borne pathogens are recognizedas a major health hazard associated with street foods, the riskbeing dependent primarily on the type of food, and the methodof preparation and conservation. A lack of knowledge amongstreet food vendors about the causes of food-borne disease is amajor risk factor. Poor hygiene, inadequate access to potablewater supply and garbage disposal, and unsanitary environmentalconditions (such as proximity to sewers and garbage dumps)further exacerbate the public health risks associated with streetfoods. Improper use of additives (often unauthorised colouringagents), mycotoxins, heavy metals and other contaminants (suchas pesticide residues) are additional hazards in street foods. Although many consumers attach importance to hygiene inselecting a street food vendor, consumers are often unaware ofthe health hazards associated with street vended foods.

Ensuring quality and safety of street foods

Challenges…Street foods have an importantsocio-economic role... Streetfoods are ready-to-eat foods andbeverages prepared and/or sold byvendors or hawkers especially inthe streets and other similar places.They represent a significant part ofurban food consumption formillions of low-and-middle-incomeconsumers, in urban areas on adaily basis. Street foods may be the least expensive and mostaccessible means of obtaining anutritionally balanced meal outsidethe home for many low incomepeople, provided that theconsumer is informed and able to

choose the proper combination of foods.In developing countries, street food preparation and sellingprovides a regular source of income for millions of men andwomen with limited education or skills, especially because theactivity requires low initial investment. This activity alsosupports local agricultural producers and food processors andcontributes to local and national economic growth.

...but they raise some serious concerns... Today, localauthorities, international organisations and consumerassociations are increasingly aware of the socioeconomic

Vendors can impede traffic and pedestrian access to sidewalks, such as this foodcart in Bangkok, Thailand

Drinks and beverages are an important part of street foods. Tea vending in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

An un-hygienic environment for food production raises an additional challenge to the vendors. Small restaurants in a marketlane in Cotonou, Benin

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FAO’s action...

Several projects have been implemented by FAO incollaboration with national and municipal authorities with aview to:• improve conditions under which street foods are preparedand sold; • strengthen food quality control capabilities of the localauthorities to improve overall quality of both the raw materialand processed foods;• undertake further research on the street food sector: socio-economic impact, legislative framework, hygienic andnutritional improvement;• improve vendors’ knowledge about sanitation and foodhygiene and nutritional value of foods through education andtraining;• share experiences and promote networking among localand national authorities at the regional level to spread goodpractices and promote a common strategy;• raise awareness among consumers about nutrition andhygiene aspects of street foods.

Specific training material is available, as well as a variety ofrecommended designs for selling and transport equipment, tominimize the risk of contamination of street foods. This hasbeen built over 20 years of experience in Latin America (Bolivia,Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru), Asia(India, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand), and most recently in Africa(Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Cape Verde,Cote d’Ivoire, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Ghana,Guinea, Guinea Bissau,Nigeria, Senegal, SouthAfrica, Tanzania andUganda) and the NearEast (Egypt, Morocco,Sudan).

FAO’s response...

FAO has a comprehensive programme to assist national andmunicipal authorities in ensuring the quality and safety ofstreet food. As with all food preparation activities, the basicfood hygiene rules must be applied. As most street foodvendors are untrained in food hygiene or sanitation, andhave to work under very poor and unsanitary conditions,FAO has been dedicating great attention to sensitizationand training of the different actors of this complex system.

Attention is being given to realistically adapting theguidelines of Codex Alimentarius regarding the GeneralPrinciples of Food Hygiene and the Hazard Analysis andCritical Control Point (HACCP) system to the street foodcontext. The Codex Regional Coordinating Committeeshave elaborated respective codes of hygienic practices forstreet vended foods which take into account the localconditions and the special nature of street foods. FAO has developed guidelines for nutrition education and,most recently, a detailed curriculum for nutrition educationin schools. Effective nutrition education programmes forschool children and other key community groups areessential means of equipping street food customers withthe knowledge necessary for making healthy food choices.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Food Quality and Standards ServiceViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italyfood-quality@fao.org www.fao.org/ag/agn/food/food_en.stm

Trained vendors display their sellingauthorization and wear clean working

clothes, including a hair scarf, in the foodfair in Lima, Peru

Ready to eat food can be properly stored aboveground level and protected against flies anddust. Small restaurant in the Sunday Market inIslamabad, Pakistan

Ready-to-eat street foods are commonly sold in African markets, such asin Conakry, Guinea

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Processed foods

Challenges...Urban lifestyles, increasingdistances between home and workplace, workingwomen, and changes in family cohesion are all factors increasing thedemand for shelf-stable,convenience (time-saving) and value-added foods. Thishas stimulated the rapidgrowth of food processingindustries in urban areas, andcreated opportunities for

income generation, employment and economic growth. Urban food industries benefit from easier access toconsumer markets, lower transport and distribution costs,and proximity to diverse services including informationtechnology and waste treatment facilities. However theyalso face considerable challenges in achieving requiredstandards of quality and safety, and in operating in anefficient and sustainable manner. Competition for resources(land, water, labour and energy) often results in insufficientquantities and quality of water, unreliable electricity supplyfor powering processing equipment, unsanitary premiseslacking appropriate facilities for disposing process waste,difficulty in accessing processing inputs including rawmaterials, packaging and equipment, and lack of trainedstaff.

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Fruit jam, nectar and syrup processedby a small producer in Bamako, Mali.FAO disseminates technologies andgood practices to maintain the qualityand safety of highly perishable foods

Pre-cooked fonio is in high demand in urban areasof West Africa. Processing operations weredesigned to yield a product with qualities desired byconsumers

FAO’s response...FAO has expertise in providing technical support and policyadvice that can be applied in overcoming the above-mentionedchallenges. The Organization’s work is geared towardupgrading food processing and preservation technologies,improving food quality and safety, adding value to rawagricultural materials (cereals, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds,roots and tubers), and developing innovative processed foodsto supply urban markets. To meet the needs of urbanconsumers, efficient value chains are developed by facilitatinglinkages between various stakeholders involved. Thus, farmersare linked to intermediaries and traders, who in turn are linkedto food processing industries, who ultimately supply retailers,wholesalers and other distributors. Improvement of theefficiency of the value chain fosters a more equitable,transparent and sustainable distribution of benefits amongstthe various stakeholders. The Organization prepares technicalbulletins and training guides, implements training courses andworkshops for the various stakeholders, and works with localauthorities, regulatory bodies and policy makers to facilitateprovision of services and infrastructure required to maintainquality and safety of food throughout the value chain.

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Washing fonio grain at a medium-scale operation inBamako, Mali. Food processing to meet urban needsoffers income generating opportunities, especially forwomen

FAO’s action...

Processing technologies and good manufacturingpractices. FAO is developing Good Manufacturing Practices(GMP) for value-added processing of cereals, roots, tubers,fruits and vegetables in developing countries. With the supportand collaboration of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für TechnischeZusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the Centre de coopérationinternationale en recherche agronomique pour ledéveloppement (CIRAD), the Organization created theInformation Network for Post-harvest Operations (INPhO) toimprove access to technical data and foster exchange ofinformation among different actors involved in post-harvestprocessing. www.fao.org/inpho

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, ItalyAGS-Registry@fao.orgwww.fao.org/ag/ags/home/en/agst.html

Technical support. Over the years, FAO provided technicalsupport to improve oil seeds processing in Ghana, Kenya, Ugandaand Zambia where large quantities of palm and other vegetableoils are consumed in urban areas.

The Organization’s regional office in Accra provided technicalassistance to the government of Ghana for the creation of atomato processing promotion centre. Through training inprocessing techniques, GMP, quality assurance, and businessmanagement, the centre supports transformation of tomatoesinto paste and other value added products.

In West Africa pre-cooked fonio is becoming more and morepopular in urban areas because it is easy to prepare, aconvenience highly valued by consumers in cities. FAOcollaborated with other partners to develop machines for post-harvest processing of fonio in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

In the Caribbean, FAO is currently developing best practicesand appropriate technologies for cottage-scale processing ofhot pepper sauce. Hot pepper sauce is a major spice inCaribbean countries and is produced in facilities located in ornear urban areas. FAO has also developed technologies forprocessing coconut water, a beverage that is popular andwidely consumed in urban areas of the Caribbean.

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Coconut water processing in the Caribbean. Appropriatetechnologies and good practices prevent contamination,

ensure a safe and wholesome product and minimisenegative impact on both environment and health

Hot pepper sauce processing in Trinidad and Tobago. Good Manufacturing Practices increase efficiency, reduce waste and obtain high-quality finished products

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FAO’s response...As a starting point for long termimprovement, land tenurearrangements for urban foodproduction can be addressed ina land policy that recognises andprovides for urban agriculture.Although it is always a balance,productive land needs to be

protected through zoning and regulations. NGOs may play a vitalnegotiating role in such a process.Temporary arrangements need to be well documented and ifpossible documented by permits. They should respect prior landuses and tenures, which requires that existing land tenure and use,

Land tenureand food production

Challenges...Cities grow. Demand forfood increases, but areassuitable for agriculturediminish. New urbanpopulations seek accessto cultivable land. Landvalues rise as demandfor non-agricultural usegrows. The environmentis extremely competitiveand players in urban and

peri-urban food production may not have a loud voice. Theycompete with a wide variety of interests on access to landfor agricultural use and their cultivations are seldomprotected by secure tenure arrangements. Land tenure

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issues are potentially a majorconstraint for urban and peri-urban food production.Populations of cities tend to rapidlyincrease during emergenciesand conflicts. Food securityproblems escalate and the needfor temporary, flexible, land userights to enable agricultural useis a part of any solution. Thealready challenging tenurestructures typical of conflict situations are further complicatedby the high level of demand for land, by lack of clarity onownership and access rights and by absentee landholders.Monitoring of land use is extremely difficult and the situationalmost inevitably leads to violations of rights, whatever theintentions of the parties. In emergency situations there is oftena need to introduce temporary tenure arrangements, whichallow the temporary utilisation of vacant land for foodproduction and livelihood maintenance, as well as for thetemporary settlement of the displaced population.

land records and physical structures are protected andconserved. This may be necessary, for example, for theeventual administration of restitution of land orcompensation. In some cases it may be necessary to resortto retrospective tools (like spatial imagery) for restructuringthe land tenure structures.FAO has strong global experience in land tenure analysis,policy formulation and design of strategies to improveaccess to land and other natural resources and to increasetenure security for environmentally sound and sustainabledevelopment.

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Land tenure arrangementsUrban agriculture is often carried out under tenurearrangements based on customary or informal tenures.Typically, these are mutual benefiting short termagreements, but just as often access is simply gained bysquatting, without any form of agreement, ontemporarily available idle land. The complexity andflexibility of tenure arrangements in dynamic, developingcountry situations, where security of tenure is often soughtboth via a web of social relations and via statutory systems,leads to significant land tenure challenges. Land use restrictionsare the last in the line of worries of the poor. Such customaryor informal tenure arrangements are typically flexible, enablingland users to react to changing conditions. They are notnormally recognised formally in statutes and thus can usuallybe disregarded when the built area expands. The low formalrecognition of land rights in urban cultivation results in low

security of tenure, thusdiminishing food security,livelihood possibilities andsocial stability. Changing thissituation through statutoryrecognition and recording of informal and multipletenure systems is challengingbecause exact clarification of such rights often runscounter to their nature. In addition, the rules,procedures and fees ofregistration may be too costlyfor the more vulnerable partsof the population.

A measure of security of tenure can be provided, however, byrecognising temporary rights per cultivation season and/or byrecognising and administering in an equitable way rights ofaccess to idle cultivable land, provided that the primarylandholder’s interest is not harmed. Such an approach couldembody a mechanism to compensate the cultivator for inputsshould the landholder exercise the right to the reversion andinterrupt a cultivation season.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.asp

For further information, contact:FAO, Land Tenure Service Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italylandtenure@fao.org www.fao.org/sd/index_en.htm

Zoning and demarcationIn a more structured environment progress can be made byusing the planning tools and processes in force in thejurisdiction. Areas for agricultural use on the urban fringecould be zoned, or specified forms of urban agricultureaccepted as a legitimate form of urban land use.Furthermore, innovative techniques such as rooftopgardening could be legalised and regulated. Mechanismsfor enabling more innovative approaches to making urbanland available for agricultural production could includeimaginative approaches to land banking, creation ofincentives through taxation and associated relief, and theestablishment of garden plots/allotments for food growing.Some public areas could also be used for “landscapefriendly” food production.

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FAO’s response…Increasing demographicpressure in urban areas incrisis, where the strain onthe land is already intense,requires rapid, appropriateand effective responses.One way FAO responds isby supporting peri-urbanfarming, which can providefood security for familiesand can be a source ofincome. Market gardeningis advantageous as it has asmall surface requirement and short vegetative cycles for quickoutputs. The vegetables produced have necessary nutrientsand can complement other food items obtained at localmarkets or supplement emergency food aid. Capacity buildingis given a central focus - with the aim of strengthening theimpact and making the beneficial results last. Given thenumerous female IDPs and the major role played by women inproviding households’ basic needs in crisis situations, FAO alsomakes strong support available to women headed households

and to widows undertaking agricultural activities.Young people and orphans are also specifically targetedbeneficiaries in the urban areas. The aim of peri-urbangardening projects is to induce food crop production,increase available household food supply and reducemalnutrition which particularly affects children. Peri-urban gardening also aims at helping vulnerablepopulations secure a reasonable income level in orderfor them to meet their daily needs.

Emergencies and crisisin urban areas

Challenges…The human population isgrowing at an exponential ratein some African urban centresdue to a large number of refugeesand Internally Displaced Peoples(IDPs), fleeing violent conflict,poverty, drought and hunger.The rural population, driftingaway from the land in search ofsafety and food security,increasingly challenges thecapacity of cities’ infrastructure

and economy to feed the fast growing population.Significantly, although most of these newly settled peopleare very young, they still mostly rely on agriculture to earna living when settled in urban and peri-urban areas. Thechallenges to support the growing population arenumerous and include providing a sufficient and balancedfood diet, basic social services, a source of income, land andenergy. In many cases these challenges are furtherexacerbated by discrimination, disease, and lack ofstructural support.

Selling vegetables in the local markets provides vulnerable people with a source of household income in Liberia

Peri-urban gardening generates incomeopportunities and the social integrationof Internally Displaced Peoplesin Bujumbura, Burundi

Internally Displaced Peoples inBurundi learn how to managelimited resources

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LiberiaIn Liberia the civil war forced thousands of farmers to migrateto Monrovia in search of safety and food. Displaced peoplesettled with relatives or in camps in the peri-urbancommunities, straining the available food supply and socialservices in these areas. Overpopulation and unemployment

means many families can not adequately feed themselvesand children are malnourished. FAO provided support toimplement an emergency agriculture relief assistanceproject that targeted 2 500 war-affected farm families andaimed to significantly reduce malnutrition among childrenand help displaced families achieve a reasonable income. Byusing vacant city lots to cultivate to food crops, riceproduction and the sale of seed rice became a major sourceof income. Additionally, the production of fresh vegetables,and their supply to the local markets contributed toMonrovia’s food supply. The effect of these activities was anincrease in vegetable production, better nutrition, and asignificant drop of malnutrition cases in IDP camps.

FAO’s action…

BurundiThe populations of Burundi’s urban centres are growingquickly as the economy slowly recovers from the disastrouseffects of twelve years of war. Cities must find ways toprovide basic necessities to IDPs, repatriates and ruralfamilies, who migrate to escape poverty and violence.Discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, andpeople living with HIV/AIDS makes poverty andmalnutrition even more difficult to combat. In the capital,Bujumbura, vulnerable people and groups, the bulk ofthem being women headed households and youngsters,resettled under precarious conditions and often had to set

up associations in order to rent a plotof land or obtain the right to use it.FAO chooses to support theseassociations with the aim of improvinghousehold economies, particularly ofthe most vulnerable people. Gardeningin small plots available in urban areasprovides vulnerable people with acritical source of nutrition and incomesas vegetables are both eaten and soldon local markets. In Burundi, FAOalone has been supporting about 5percent of the active householdsinvolved in home gardening activities.Small animal husbandry in towns,notably the distribution of ducks, also

helps fight malnutrition and improves livelihoods. Becauseof the federative effect of associations, these projects takeon significant social dimensions in the post-crisis context ofBurundi. While creating new income generatingopportunities, like hand tools production and maintenance,they play an integrating function in peace consolidation topeople on the brink of becoming marginalized.

Food for the Cities - Multidisciplinary AreaFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSwww.fao.org/fcit/index.aspFor further information, contact:FAO, Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation DivisionViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italyrelief-operations@fao.orgwww.fao.org/reliefoperations/index_en.asp

In Burundi, FAO also conducts training workshopson simple food processing techniques for marketgardening products, which preserve the nutritionalquality of the food

Livelihoods of vulnerable ruralpeople settled in cities inBurundi is based on agriculture,which also provides local markets with basic food products

Fresh vegetables harvested and consumed have contributed to the nutrition of beneficiary farm families in Liberia

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