RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia

Across Asia, cities are contending with a wide range of food-related issues but most lack a dedicated or coherent set of food policies. For most cities in Asia, food has been a policy and governance blind spot, while national food policy has distinctly lacked an urban perspective. Arguing that food...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Acharya, Gayatri, Cassou, Emilie, Jaffee, Steven, Ludher, Elyssa Kaur
Format: Report
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35137
id okr-10986-35137
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-351372022-06-02T05:10:48Z RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia Acharya, Gayatri Cassou, Emilie Jaffee, Steven Ludher, Elyssa Kaur FOOD SYSTEM URBAN PLANNING FOOD POLICY FOOD SECURITY FOOD WASTE DIETARY QUALITY NUTRITION URBAN LAND USE ACCESS TO FOOD Across Asia, cities are contending with a wide range of food-related issues but most lack a dedicated or coherent set of food policies. For most cities in Asia, food has been a policy and governance blind spot, while national food policy has distinctly lacked an urban perspective. Arguing that food system outcomes are central to the topmost priorities of Asian cities, RICH Food, Smart City calls for cities of all sizes to “get smart to get RICH”—that is, to pursue food policies that foster reliable, inclusive, competitive, and healthy (“RICH”) food systems, better aligned with cities’ contemporary challenges and aspirations. Based on the first systematic survey of urban food policies in 170 Asian cities in 21 countries, RICH Food, Smart City finds that only 8 percent of surveyed cities are “food-smart” and intervene in the food system in ways that are forward-looking, holistic, and inclusive. Nearly three-fourths are either at an early stage of effective engagement or fully in reactive mode, responding to problems as they emerge. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, the need for coherent multisectoral strategies and coordinated action was becoming apparent. The pandemic has now drawn attention to the essential functions of urban food supply chains and businesses and further exposed the vulnerability of urban populations to food insecurity, zoonosis, and foodborne disease. But the crisis has also shown us the potential of the food economy, through its displays of resilience coming from informal marketing channels and budding e-commerce networks and capacities. Rich Food, Smart City illustrates how Asian cities and urban leaders can take on vital food system issues, including food security, diet quality, environmental sustainability, and climate neutrality; and how building RICH food systems can help cities pursue their goals. The book will be of interest to urban planners, policy makers and leaders at the city and national levels, as well as to food system and development practitioners, and others interested in urban food policy and governance. 2021-02-12T18:31:27Z 2021-02-12T18:31:27Z 2021-03-03 Report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35137 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Other Urban Study East Asia and Pacific South Asia Asia
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
topic FOOD SYSTEM
URBAN PLANNING
FOOD POLICY
FOOD SECURITY
FOOD WASTE
DIETARY QUALITY
NUTRITION
URBAN LAND USE
ACCESS TO FOOD
spellingShingle FOOD SYSTEM
URBAN PLANNING
FOOD POLICY
FOOD SECURITY
FOOD WASTE
DIETARY QUALITY
NUTRITION
URBAN LAND USE
ACCESS TO FOOD
Acharya, Gayatri
Cassou, Emilie
Jaffee, Steven
Ludher, Elyssa Kaur
RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
South Asia
Asia
description Across Asia, cities are contending with a wide range of food-related issues but most lack a dedicated or coherent set of food policies. For most cities in Asia, food has been a policy and governance blind spot, while national food policy has distinctly lacked an urban perspective. Arguing that food system outcomes are central to the topmost priorities of Asian cities, RICH Food, Smart City calls for cities of all sizes to “get smart to get RICH”—that is, to pursue food policies that foster reliable, inclusive, competitive, and healthy (“RICH”) food systems, better aligned with cities’ contemporary challenges and aspirations. Based on the first systematic survey of urban food policies in 170 Asian cities in 21 countries, RICH Food, Smart City finds that only 8 percent of surveyed cities are “food-smart” and intervene in the food system in ways that are forward-looking, holistic, and inclusive. Nearly three-fourths are either at an early stage of effective engagement or fully in reactive mode, responding to problems as they emerge. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, the need for coherent multisectoral strategies and coordinated action was becoming apparent. The pandemic has now drawn attention to the essential functions of urban food supply chains and businesses and further exposed the vulnerability of urban populations to food insecurity, zoonosis, and foodborne disease. But the crisis has also shown us the potential of the food economy, through its displays of resilience coming from informal marketing channels and budding e-commerce networks and capacities. Rich Food, Smart City illustrates how Asian cities and urban leaders can take on vital food system issues, including food security, diet quality, environmental sustainability, and climate neutrality; and how building RICH food systems can help cities pursue their goals. The book will be of interest to urban planners, policy makers and leaders at the city and national levels, as well as to food system and development practitioners, and others interested in urban food policy and governance.
format Report
author Acharya, Gayatri
Cassou, Emilie
Jaffee, Steven
Ludher, Elyssa Kaur
author_facet Acharya, Gayatri
Cassou, Emilie
Jaffee, Steven
Ludher, Elyssa Kaur
author_sort Acharya, Gayatri
title RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
title_short RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
title_full RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
title_fullStr RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
title_full_unstemmed RICH Food, Smart City : How Building Reliable, Inclusive, Competitive, and Healthy Food Systems is Smart Policy for Urban Asia
title_sort rich food, smart city : how building reliable, inclusive, competitive, and healthy food systems is smart policy for urban asia
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35137
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