China: How sustainable green urban farms support the local food system in response to COVID-19
The government of Chongming district insisted on promoting the development of green agriculture, quickly adopted pandemic response measures and mobilized the production capacity of urban farms.
By Shanghai Chongming Eco-Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Center
City Region Food Systems Programme
FAO
11/12/2020
Excerpt:
Background
Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of over 24 million and one of the most important international hubs. As of 1 November 2020, Shanghai has a total of 1 187 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 845 are imported cases from abroad, and 342 locally confirmed cases.
Since January 2020, Shanghai has adopted various measures to improve the local agricultural production and food system. In the press conference held on 24 June 2020[1], Shanghai municipal government gave an overview introduction of the city’s food supply system summarized here below:
1) Vegetable supply. The vegetable wholesale volume in Shanghai stabilized at around 9 000 tons/day. There were 127 extraterritorial vegetable production sites closely connected to major wholesale markets, from provinces such as Hainan, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Ningxia. A large number of production sites ensures that residents in Shanghai can consume seasonal vegetables from different production areas throughout the year. Since summer, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes produced from the sites in Gansu, Ningxia, Hebei, and other provinces has been continuously supplying to Shanghai’s markets. In addition to ensuring a sufficient supply of main conventional varieties, the Shanghai Vegetable Group also organized seasonal vegetables, such as bok choy, water spinach and lettuce, supplied from Zhejiang, Hunan, and other provinces.
