Urban agriculture as a climate change and disaster risk reduction strategy

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is considered as a strategy that can bring multiple benefits and help to build resilient urban food systems at the city region level. Cities have an important role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk management and in enhancing the climate resilience of their vulnerable residents. Major emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG), cities are not only contributing to climate change, but are also directly and indirectly impacted by it. Acute or chronic climate change is threatening access to basic urban services such as water, energy and food for growing populations. Key issues include rising temperatures, increasing rainfall, flooding and urban food insecurity. Rapid urban growth will only increase the number of highly vulnerable urban communities, with the urban poor being most at risk. Only with a coordinated approach and action at the global, regional, national and local levels can the climate change emergency be curbed, and its effects mitigated

Gender in urban food systems

It’s no secret that the food system has an endemic gender problem. There are significant barriers to participation in food value chains due to socially determined identities, roles, rights and obligations of women and men, and structural inequalities embedded in the system. Most work to address gender inequalities in the food system to date has focused on rural areas, with a particular focus on women producers. But there are vast gendered disparities in urban food systems too, which have been largely neglected by city officials, economic planners and development practitioners. In this issue of UA Magazine, we identify the ways in which gender and inclusivity have been neglected in urban food policy, practice and research

Innovations in urban agriculture

This issuehighlights innovations in urban agriculture. Innovation and the various forms of innovations are of particular importance because urban agriculture is adapted to specific urban challenges and opportunities. Innovation is taking place continuously, exploring the multiple fundions of urban agriculture, including food security, income generation and environmental management

Sustainable financing, scaling up WASH [Water, Sanitation and Hygiene] and urban agriculture

Sustainable financing can be viewed from two perspectives. According to the first, an adequate mix of public and private financing, and significant reliance on local finance options, for any activity is necessary to avoid dependency on external funding (often project related). The second perspective relates to the purpose of the investment, focusing here on value chains in the sanitation and (peri)urban agricultural (UPA) sectors. This issue, no. 26, is a collaborative effort of the RUAF Foundation and WASTE, both members of the Dutch WASH Alliance. The emphasis is on exploring options for the financing of urban agriculture as part of the sanitation value chain: valorisation of urban waste with clear benefit impacts to the urban and periurban agricultural sector