Environment & Urbanization

World leading environmental and urban studies journal

Reframing the debate on urbanisation, rural transformation and food security

Author(s): 
Cecilia Tacoli, Bill Vorley

Publisher: 
IIED briefing

Year: 
2015

More than half the world’s population live in urban areas. Growing numbers of people in rural areas buy more food than they sell. Current food security narratives are outdated: urban dwellers are not all “over consumers” and rural communities are not exclusively food producers. For effective policymaking, the production-based debate on food security must adapt to consider how consumption and urbanization are transforming rural spaces and economies, food systems and food security. It must focus on access, affordability, safety and nutrition for both rural and urban low-income groups. Policy can be informed by innovations in trade networks and governance systems that span urban and rural contexts. The authors report on how they are working with partners in Africa and Asia on an ambitious change initiative that will support an evidence-based shift in global food security narratives.

 

Available at http://pubs.iied.org/17281IIED.html?c=urban

 

Further reading:

Ahmed, Sohel, Edwin Simiyu, Grace Githiri, Adrienne Acioly, Shadrack Mbaka, Irene Karanja and Leonard Kigen (2014) “Dining with less danger: mapping food and environmental hazards in Mathare, Nairobi”, IIED briefing, available at http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17218IIED.pdf.

Thanh, Hoang Xuan, Truong Tuan Anh, Luu Trong Quang, Dinh Thi Giang and Dinh Thi Thu Phuong (2013), “Food security in the context of Vietnam’s rural-urban linkages and climate change”, IIED working paper, 44 pages, available at http://pubs.iied.org/10649IIED.html.

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