The main objective of the research was to investigate further, via literature, secondary sources of data and information and field work conducted in one city, Erbil, Iraq, the climate smarting of local food systems considering the rural, peri-urban and urban context. The research in particular focused on looking at climate smarting local food value chains, via the green food value chain development approach, and attempting to verify what lessons may be learnt. A local-based perspective, green food value chain development, enables concrete actions to be taken where, in fact, the majority of activities in food systems take place. The approach, takes a holistic and systemic focus on developing food value chains with an overall environmental perspective and priority, in other words greening and climate smarting. The article provides for an initial context in terms of increasing climate change, natural environment degradation, and the incremental rise of population concentrations in peri-urban and urban areas and how such challenges have and are fundamentally altering food system operations for providing food security. It characterises food systems and food value chains within this context, considers how food systems affect climate change, describes the green food value chain development approach and provides for research findings derived from literature, secondary sources of data and information, and from filed work conducted in one city, Erbil, Iraq. The findings provided that, for example, strengthening rural to urban linkages and improving governance and implementing regulations, foster and enhance a low-carbon development pathway. From the findings a number of lessons were learnt, for example, the need for a systemic and holistic process that enables synergy among the various factors that contribute and enhance climate smarting and greening, to the centrality of multi-stakeholder partnerships and platforms, to awareness creation for climate smarting and greening targeted at policy-makers, provided by an effective communication strategy. Such lessons learnt also contributed to further enhancing knowledge and know-how of the green food value chain development approach, and at the same time, identified further areas for research.