From Global Issues to Local Priorities: the role of Cities in the Global Agenda

                           

 

From Global Issues to Local Priorities: the role of Cities in the Global Agenda, including Cities for Sustainable Development, Food Security, Nutrition and Climate Change

José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General

 

I would like to start by highlighting the importance of making global commitments local realities.

To implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the political commitment of global leaders is not enough.

We also need the full engagement of local authorities. After all, it is at the local level where people live, where people eat, use water or dispose their garbage. 

And at local level, cities are becoming more and more important. We are living in a time of rapid urbanization.  

Today, about 55 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 percent by 2050, most of it in Africa and Southeast Asia, where hunger and poverty are mostly concentrated nowadays.

In this context, the Sustainable Development Goal number 11, which is promoting sustainable cities and communities, is fundamental for achieving all other SDGs.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me focus on the SDG 2, which calls for the eradication of hunger and all forms of malnutrition, as well as the development of sustainable agriculture.

As you know, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased over the last three years, as well as the number of people suffering from obesity.

Overweight and obesity are growing everywhere, but especially in urban areas, where people are more likely to eat cheaper processed food high in trans fats, sugar and salt.

We urgently need to transform our food systems.

We need to put in place food systems that offer healthy and nutritious food for everyone, while preserving our natural resources and biodiversity.

For that, we have to integrate actions from the production to the consumption of food.

Cities have a fundamental role to play in this
much-needed transformation of our food systems.

We can no longer think of rural and urban areas as a dichotomy, as dissociated things.

Sustainable development calls for the strengthening of rural-urban linkages based on
a territorial approach. We need to promote a
rural-urban continuum.

Furthermore, city dwellers cannot be considered as mere food consumers, and rural communities must not be seen exclusively as food producers. 

All these are important for many reasons. Let me mention three of them:

First, to provide family farmers with better access to services, infrastructure and markets.

Second, to create conditions for urban people to eat more fresh and nutritious food based on short food supply chains and also on urban and
peri-urban agriculture.

And third, to reduce the amount of food that is either lost or wasted.

Ladies and gentlemen,

FAO has been highly engaged in promoting the sustainable development of cities based on a
food systems and territorial approach.

We are supporting, for instance, the implementation of the “Milan Urban Food Policy Pact”, launched in 2015.  

As you know, the “Milan Urban Food Policy Pact” was the first international protocol calling for cities to develop sustainable food systems that grant healthy and accessible food to all, protect biodiversity and reduce food waste.

FAO is helping cities to establish and collect indicators that will measure the impact of the Milan Pact. We are also facilitating the exchange of best practices among cities.

In 2017, the second Mayors’ Summit of the Milan Pact took place in Valencia, Spain, where FAO
has supported the establishment of the World Sustainable Food Centre of Valencia. 

The Centre aims to be a reference in the promotion of healthy and sustainable food systems in cities.

I am sure that the Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, will provide later a comprehensive explanation about the Centre. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

FAO also actively participated in the Habitat III process that resulted in the adoption of the “New Urban Agenda” at the Quito Conference in 2016.

To support the implementation of the
“New Urban Agenda”, we have developed the
“FAO Framework for the Urban Food Agenda”.

The Framework will be officially launched in Rome on 7th March 2019. But we have prepared these publications to explain the aims and concepts of the Framework, and how it will be implemented.

 

The Framework includes several areas of support based on the premise that sustainable development requires a systems thinking, rather than granular responses.

It presents ideas on implementing actions to generate employment; strengthening local food value chains; and reducing and managing the high levels of food waste found in many cities.

The Framework also recognizes that food systems development is driven, to a large extent, by consumer behavior in urban areas.

In fact, about 80 percent of all food produced globally is now consumed in urban areas.

Urban consumers can therefore provide a very effective entry point in promoting the transformation to more sustainable agricultural production and value chain development.

The Framework also emphasizes the importance of an active local governance mechanism to inform local authorities in decision-making.
It gives the examples of Vancouver, Bristol and Belo Horizonte.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To conclude, I would like to say that implementing the food systems approach may be challenging.

But it is fundamental to ensure healthy and nutritious food for all while safeguarding the planet for future generations.

Sustainable development can only be achieved
if we translate our global commitments into local actions.

In this context, I praise the resolution “Global Health and Foreign Policy” recently adopted by the General Assembly and which addressed the key theme of nutrition.

This resolution fosters the promotion of healthy diets and lifestyles with specific policies linked to the national commitments in the framework of the UN Decade on Nutrition.

But as obesity and overweight epidemics is out of control and their effects cost to national health systems yearly more than the military expenditure worldwide, the international community needs to go further.

Public policies that promote healthy diets are urgently needed to address people’s food choices.

We cannot continue to blame the mother if her child is obese. Overweight and obesity are a public, not a private issue: governments should implement policies and programs aimed at providing healthy, nutritious and affordable food for everyone.

Families and individuals can no longer be the only responsibles for what and how they eat.

In this regard, it calls our attention that there is no consistent, comprehensive and global regulation for the promotion of healthy diets.

Building upon this resolution, I call your attention to reflect in forthcoming UN resolutions a set of already successful actions that address this matter.

The adoption of fiscal and regulatory policies, including taxation of unhealthy foods and beverages, front of pack labeling, restriction of marketing and commercialization of unhealthy foods to children and adolescents are already in place in several countries.

And the results in reducing obesity are significantly expressive.

We know what to do.

SDG-2 and zero hunger are not just about feeding people, but nourishing them with healthy food seeking a healthy life.

Thank you very much for your attention.