FAO and UN Habitat stress the need for narrowing the gap of inequality between rural and urban areas

30 October 2020, Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Executive Director of UN Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif agreed today to renew their commitment to work closely together on rural-urban development issues and find new ways to strengthen linkages between cities and rural areas.

The Director-General stated that inequalities between cities and rural areas exist in several areas, including economic and social development, education and infrastructure. Qu stressed the need for narrowing the gap between urban and rural, rich and poor, men and women, to reduce poverty, provide access to basic services for all and balance urban migration.

For her part, Sharif said that it is vital to establish urban green areas and define the spaces for agriculture in light of the growing urbanization.

Both parties underscored the need for a more coordinated and holistic approach to strategic planning for food not only in big cities but also in small towns and villages as well as transformation of agri-food systems in urban and peri-urban areas towards healthier diets and expanding cities in a more environmentally friendly way. 

They referred to designing fishponds and forestry parks for recreation and work of urban people as well as crops and fruit production in peri-urban areas as good examples of such approach that facilitates the creation of stronger rural-urban linkages and introduces biodiversity in the life of urban dwellers.

During the meeting the Director-General invited UN Habitat to join the 1000 Digital Villages Initiative, which seeks to identify 1000 villages across the world to convert them into digital villages. He noted that this effort will be implemented in collaboration with Microsoft, IBM, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners.

A successful implementation of this project can make digital villages engines for increased resilience by introducing e-commerce to rural areas, facilitating the farmers’ access to markets and diversifying their incomes which is particularly critical in light of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To this end, the Director-General added that the initiative also aims to unleash the potential of digital agriculture in bridging the urban-rural divide and integrate rural areas in the digital economy to better address food and nutrition insecurity.

Both parties agreed on the need to find the best mechanisms to mainstream sustainable food systems and green spaces in National Urban Policy, local policy, planning and programmes.