Urban food systems: the case for municipal action

This chapter explores the drivers of cities' re-awakened concern for food systems and the levers and instruments they can use to shape it, bearing in mind the varying degrees of political autonomy under national institutional frameworks. The chapter examines the challenges that cities may encounter in securing and retaining political will for the food agenda, securing funds, and implementing actions, and gives examples of how some cities have overcome these challenges. It also discusses governance models that local governments may put in place or participate in, with particular attention to multistakeholder platforms such as food policy councils. Four areas for future research are proposed: how to protect urban food policies through political change; how national governments can foster an enabling environment for urban food policy; the effective use of indicators and monitoring frameworks; and cities' adaptive capacity to mitigate the impacts of shocks and stresses (from climate change, pandemics, and other causes) on food systems.