The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact is considered one of the most important legacies of the  Milan Expo 2015. It is an international protocol document engaging 116 cities worldwide and advocating for the improvement of food systems  based on the principles of sustainability and social justice. This voluntary commitment to coordinate international food policies was signed by city Mayors on the occasion of the event held on 15 October 2015 at the Expo. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, presented the signed pact on World Food Day (16 October). Signatories to the Pact agreed to adhere to a Framework for Action that includes key principles such as guaranteeing healthy food for all, promoting sustainability in food systems, educating the public about healthy diets and reducing waste.

The stakeholders involved in the guidance and the coordination of the process of the Pact will be joining forces for the implementation phase. FAO and the City of Milan agreed to host the next meeting at FAO headquarters (Rome) in 2016 — a year after the official launch of the Pact. The stakeholders will support the formulation of indicators to measure the Pact’s targets, assist in obtaining and monitoring data to assess progress and results, facilitate the exchange of best practices among cities, and help in expanding the network.

Selected good practices from cities

To complement the Pact and its Framework for Action, good practices have been collected among the cities, aiming to:

• Show the extensiveness of food policies and the work that is occurring in cities, metropolitan regions and territories around cities;
• Offer urban local authorities examples of good practices that cities can use as a guide to  adapt new policies and practices to their local environments;
• Identify lessons learned to guide practical implementation of urban food practices in other cities.

Forty-nine good practices have been gathered from cities within six thematic areas:

• governance to ensure an enabling environment for effective action;
• sustainable diets and nutrition;
• social and economic equity;
• food production including rural-urban linkages;
• food supply and distribution; and
• food waste prevention, reduction and management.

Food for the Cities Programme pilot cities in Milan

Through the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, six of the project pilot cities also formally engaged to improve their food systems, based on the principles of sustainability and social justice. The local authority representatives from Colombo, Lusaka, Dakar, Medellín, Toronto, and Utrecht signed the agreement in Milan.

Some of these cities have submitted good practices to be shared with other potentially interested cities.

The city of Medellín shared examples of good practices in two categories:

• Sustainable diets and nutrition. It presents an integrated approach that takes into consideration elderly people facing food insecurity. Through this initiative, the city of Medellín gives specific attention to lower income senior citizens by providing them with food packages, meals, and educational support to foster more food secure and healthy lifestyles; and
• Food production including rural-urban linkages. It contributes  to promoting urban family gardens for home-consumption as a tool to improve vulnerable families’ access to healthy and nutritious food.

The city of Dakar also shared one of its implemented actions to build a more sustainable and food secure city region:

• Food production including rural-urban linkages.  Dakar introduced its micro-gardening project as a key element to improve food security, increase the consumption of fresh and nutritious vegetables, create jobs and income, and enhance an inclusive and fair value chain. To achieve these goals, the city is providing urban dwellers with training and demonstration centres and micro-gardening kits, while improving access to urban markets.

Further to the examples provided by Medellín and Dakar, the cities of Quito, Toronto and Utrecht also shared examples including rural-urban linkages and governance that ensures an enabling environment for effective action.