IPSA

As many as ten thousand people are expected at the World Urban Forum opening in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, March 22nd. Practitioners and advocates for strong links between urban and rural, food and farming, producers and markets will be highlighting a diverse range of issues addressing the need for food systems that meet the needs of farmers and consumers, wherever they live.

IPSA has linked with collaborators Heifer International and the Sustainable Development Council, US Department of Agriculture, to host an event “Urban Rural Linkages for Resilient Food Security and Vibrant Markets” to consider why resilient food systems are becoming an important “city planning” issue, and provide examples of how local authorities, farmers, consumers, planners and community groups are addressing this in their communities.

• “ICLEI Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB): Food and Agriculture” focuses on fostering resilient communities by combining care of the environment with enhanced local food production.

• Cities, Food and Agriculture: Towards sustainable and equitable urban food systems” addresses principles and policies that enable a strong role for  urban and peri-urban agriculture.
• Nutrition in Cities” raises the topic of urban nutrition and the need for explicit attention by urban planners.
• Food Security – Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide” addresses the critical issue of feeding expanding urban populations.

Attendees: Please comment on this post to provide updates or observations from the event.

UPDATE: Here is a summary of the session we co-hosted with Heifer and the USDA.

UPDATE: The presentation from our session.

After two years of advocacy for sustainable agriculture and related issues of land, desertification, and a focus on African development at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (2008-2009), the focus is now on translating policy decisions to concrete action on the ground in communities around the world.

Achieving coherence between policy and practice in the implementation of agreed Commission recommendations took center stage at the special multistakeholder dialogue session on February 1, 2010.

IPSA presented civil society views on “Scaling Up Sustainable Agriculture Practices: Requirements for a Fast Track Approach.”

Download a PDF of the presentation here.