Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture for Strengthening Pro-Poor Resilience in Asian Cities: Investment Needs and Opportunities
Large expanse of UPA cultivation and widespread animal raising already key components of urban food systems in Asia and the Pacific
Prepared by: Yves Cabannes, Gordon Prain, and Rene van Veenhuizen
RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems The Hague, The Netherlands
For the Asian Development Bank
November 2022
Excerpt:
This report responds to several trends in Asia and the Pacific which have been increasingly recognized in the region. Together with rising urban poverty, the number of urban residents facing food and nutrition insecurity is increasing despite spending the majority of their earnings on food purchases. The COVID 19 pandemic has added greater stress to urban food systems and the vulnerability of low-income urban populations. At the same time, there is increased recognition that urban agriculture can be part of the solution to urban food insecurity, complementing other food supplies, thus, increasing urban resilience for the poor. However, there are several barriers that may impede the scaling of urban agriculture opportunities to contribute to urban resilience.
As part of broader efforts to improve the capacities of governments to design and implement resilience-building investments targeted at the urban poor, an overview study based on desk review and consultation with stakeholders was undertaken to:
(i) make the case for urban agriculture for strengthening climate resilience of the urban poor;
(ii) capture global good practices on the topic;
(iii) articulate the challenges and barriers for scaling up urban agriculture to address climate resilience of the poor; and
(iv) provide recommendations on the opportunities and strategies for scaling urban agriculture;
The report first provides some regional context in terms of urbanization trends and food security challenges. It also clarifies the meaning of “urban agriculture” and the meaning of urban resilience, which are used in this report. Chapter 2 provides evidence from the literature about the critical importance of urban agriculture and the broader urban food system for the food security and livelihoods of the poor and its contribution to climate resilience of cities through strengthening the circular bioeconomy. Chapter 3 provides two city case studies where good practices on urban agriculture have contributed to increased resilience of poor members of these cities. Chapter 4 reviews the challenges and barriers that will confront efforts to scale the kinds of good practices identified in Chapters 2 and 3, ranging from conversion of land, competition for water, social exclusion, health and environmental challenges to issues of weak planning and governance. Chapter 5 presents a number
of strategies through which these challenges can be met and the potential
of urban agriculture to contribute to urban resilience realized. By way of conclusion, Chapter 6 offers brief ideas and suggestions for the kinds of actions and interventions that ADB could make to support these strategies across the Asia and the Pacific.
