The contribution of City Working Groups to Dhaka’s Food System Governance : first experiences and insights Case-based experiences from the Dhaka Metropolitan Area : Case-based experiences from the Dhaka Metropolitan Area

Dhaka is one of the largest megacities in the world and experiences pressing issues around food safety, malnutrition among the urban poor, inadequate functioning of market systems, and food loss and waste. However, there is no policy or strategy that is specifically dedicated to food and nutrition at the city-level or at the level of the wider Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA) that covers four different cities. Although multiple institutions around food and nutrition exist, they often work in a fragmented way. This raises challenges on how to feed Dhaka’s growing urban population in a healthy and sustainable way, and how food system governance can be strengthened. This case study is an exploratory and descriptive documentation of how food system governance is approached in the specific context of the DMA. Governance is understood as the formal and informal processes and structures through which decisions are made, implemented and enforced at various levels and scales. This means that food system governance is about decision-making processes within the food system; how decisions are made, by whom, and how these decisions are consequently enforced and implemented. Termeer et al. propose a framework of five guiding principles that are important for food system governance: using a systems-based problem framing, boundary-spanning structures, adaptability, inclusiveness, and transformative capacity. This case study draws on these principles as a lens to explore how these principles are visible in the work done under the FAO-WUR Dhaka Food Systems project. There by the study focuses on four governance arrangements developed under the project, called City Working Groups (CWGs). These CWGs are multistakeholder platforms that bring together actors from the food system to discuss and address key issues in their respective cities. This case study aims to build insight into how these new governance arrangements can contribute to or strengthen food system governance in the four cities in the DMA. The case study was developed using qualitative methods; review of project documents, observations, and exploratory and in-depth interviews with key figures from the project team and CWG members. Two validations workshops were organised for feedback. Data were analysed using Nvivo

Dhaka Food Agenda 2041 Foresight and Scenario development : Workshop Report Dhaka Food Systems project

This report is a compilation of a workshop sessions held with stakeholders engaged in a foresight and scenario develop process to develop a Dhaka Food Agenda 2041. The report describes the rationale and the different steps undertaken in the process as well as its outputs. Stakeholders have interacted and explored the Dhaka Metropolitan food system and discussed the linkages between issues in the domain of food and nutrition security, food safety, food loss and waste, fresh markets and value chains. In terms of output they have deliberated that one of the major uncertainties is the shift in diets of citizens related to the uncertainty of having thriving small and sustainable businesses versus big- companies (supermarketisation). The participants developed different scenarios and their narratives that are varying from least to most desirable situation. The workshops have led to evidence and dialogue on the needs and opportunities to aim for a sustainable and inclusive food system in Dhaka in 2041. In conclusion, the report presents the steps that will follow the scoping, mapping, analysis of drivers and trends and the scenario development feeding into the further development of the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041