To raise awareness of the importance of work to strengthen urban agrifood systems in the region of Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a webinar in early June focusing on the challenges and opportunities in urban food agrifood systems faced by countries in the region.

The continuous growth of cities creates pressure to increase food production from agricultural lands that are already impacted by changing climatic conditions and reducing water availability. Currently, around 70 percent of the region’s population are urban residents. To feed this large and growing demographic in the most sustainable way possible, urban agrifood sectors need to transform to be more environmentally sustainable, productive, and economically and social equitable.

Working directly with urban food systems actors and partners, including national and local governments, on urban food issues, and urban-rural linkages is key to achieving that goal. All the players in the food systems chains must be engaged and committed to the changes that are necessary for agrifood systems transformation.

Part of the process of food systems transformation is to collect and analyse data related to each phase of the agrifood systems, from production to consumption of food. The World Agriculture Watch (WAW) is a FAO initiative now working on this systematic observation and description of farms, as essential part of the food systems in Europe and Central Asia. The WAW is elaborating a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the different types of farms, with their various kinds of labour, structures, and outputs to have a better understanding of the reality and challenges of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the region.

In the first phase of the diagnosis, the methodology is tested against already existing data gathered as part of the FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, which is part of the FAO workplan for the region since 2018 under the FAO Regional Initiative on managing natural resources sustainably and preserving biodiversity in a changing climate.