The expansion of our towns and cities is leading to loss of cropland and food production according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which summarises the science on climate change. This loss in food production due to urban expansion puts food supply at risk and creates food insecurity. The report also highlights that one of the key strategies for tackling this issue is increasing the production of food in urban and peri-urban areas.
We too in the Rurban Revolution project recognise the importance of cities in our future food system and in tackling urgent sustainability issues such as climate change. Towns and cities today are home to more than half of our global population, but at the moment the vast majority of the food eaten in cities is grown elsewhere – according to one study, only 14% of food eaten comes from urban and peri-urban areas.
In our project, we are investigating the transformative power of urban food growing: can upscaling the food we grow in cities help us reduce carbon emissions and land use pressures, helping in our fight against climate change? Would growing more fruit and veg close to where we live also increase the resilience of our food supplies and help us be healthier and happier by encouraging us to improve our diets, get active and destress? Our interdisciplinary team is currently tackling these questions.
The links between land and climate change
Released on August 7th 2019, the latest IPCC report explores how the way we use our land contributes to climate change and vice versa. The IPCC is made up of 195 member countries and 30 observer organisations. It is also the United Nations body for evaluating the science related to climate change.
Scientists in this panel appraise research undertaken worldwide and provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, and propose adaptation and mitigation possibilities. They also assess the state of knowledge and indicate where there is insufficient research in an area.
Urban agriculture is a triple win
At Rurban HQ, the report made interesting reading as there were many mentions of urban food systems throughout. The research summarised in Chapter 5 on food production strongly suggests (robust evidence, with medium agreement in IPCC terms) that urban and peri-urban agriculture is a triple win, helping to: mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; adapt to climate change impacts, whilst also helping improve our urban food security. Our research is exploring whether there are more wins to be had: can it also make us healthier and enhance our urban ecosystems?
Urban food systems were also prominent in Chapter 6 which focuses on the inter-linkages between land food and emissions, the trade-offs, synergies and response options. Quotes like the one below give us a good indication of what urban and peri-urban agriculture can do in our world:
“Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture and Forestry and local food policy and planning initiatives such as Food Policy Councils and city-region-wide regional food strategies …develop inter-linkages of the city and its citizens with surrounding rural areas to create sustainable, and more nutritious food supplies for the city, while improving the health status of urban dwellers, reducing pollution levels, adapting to and mitigating climate change, and stimulating economic development”
Understanding the interconnections
The IPCC report makes us vividly aware of the importance of scaling up urban and peri-urban food growing and the need for good research to support policies and interventions for this. In the Rurban Revolution project, we hope to add to the evidence base on urban agriculture, and in particular to boost our current understanding of the inter-linkages between health, sustainability and resilience.
We need to increase our holistic understanding of urban food growing, and we can only do that by working together across disciplines and with cities, communities, policy makers and businesses. If you’re interested in getting involved or future collaborations, please get in touch.
Over the next two years the interdisciplinary Rurban Revolution team will share research findings and project updates on twitter @RurbanRev and facebook @RurbanRevolution, as well as through our website. Sign up for our quarterly newsletter to keep regularly updated on what we are up to.