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

Abstract

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