New FAO publication to improve food integration into urban planning

Urgent action in urban areas, key to achieving Zero Hunger and healthy diets for all

According to FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, incorporating food and improved nutrition as important components of urban planning is key to achieving sustainable development, including Zero Hunger and healthy diets for all.

“We need to engage with cities because it is in cities where more and more people live, eat and work, and where we need to locally implement global commitments,” Graziano da Silva said at the launch of FAO’s Framework for the Urban Food Agenda: A holistic approach to ensuring sustainable development.

Aimed at supporting decision makers at different levels, the Framework presents ideas on how cities around the world can implement actions to generate employment, strengthen local food value chains; and reduce and manage the worrisome levels of food waste found in many cities. 

It also provides guidance on how FAO, with its partners, can assist governments to improve policy environments through coordinated laws, regulations, governance and institutional empowerment, and execute actions according to context-specific realities, such as shorter supply chains, inclusive public food procurement, innovative agro-food business, healthier food and green environments, and optimized supply chains and sustainable bio economy. 

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting cities around the world to achieve better nutrition and healthier diets. In particular, it is supporting the establishment of the World Sustainable Food Centre of Valencia (Spain), aimed at promoting healthy and sustainable food systems among cities, to be launched on 1 April 2019 with Queen Letizia of Spain participating as FAO’s Special Ambassador for Nutrition.