The Urban Food Systems (UFS) Coalition supports sustainable and inclusive transformation of urban food systems to advance equitable access to safe and nutritious food for all. Building upon the work of city networks, non-governmental organizations, academia, and key UN institutions since 2020, the coalition emerged from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit in recognition of the importance of the urban food agenda at the local, national and international levels. UCLG is one of the lead organizations taking part in it, and supports the Coalition’s secretariat, made up of FAO, ICLEI and GAIN. The coalition offers a platform to better connect small, intermediary and larger metropolitan cities with national governments to promote coherent food policy and coordinated action. Fostering dialogue between a wide range of actors, the coalition leverages expertise and facilitates knowledge and experience exchange, strengthening multilevel and multistakeholder governance.
UCLG
ICLEI
Rikolto
Ruaf
FAO
UN-Habitat
University of Cape Town
World Union of Wholesale Markets
C40 Cities
UNEP
EAT
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Local communities
The international community
Cities are fundamental for food systems transformation and for the achievement of a number of SDGs linked to food systems transformation. The Urban Food Systems Coalition facilitates coherent and coordinated engagement, action and governance between national and local governments. By leveraging expertise from a wide range of partners, it supports governments at all levels to implement urban food policies that are both locally-embedded and globally-attuned.
The UFS coalition leverages partner expertise to:
- Connect urban and national governments by creating space for engagement across scales, and strengthening the capacities of subnational governments to more effectively participate in the implementation of National Pathways, while integrating food into urban planning.
- Drive dialogue and inclusion to better understand barriers and opportunities for urban food systems transformation, and to share experiences and best practices.
- Promote evidence-driven decision through the facilitation of knowledge and experience exchange among key stakeholders and the production, management and distribution of appropriate data.
- Mobilize and leverage human and financial resources to support the capacities of urban administrations to integrate food systems into urban policies, planning and investments.
- Engage with networks and strengthen partnerships between governments, civil society, private sector and non-governmental actors which are critical to functional food system policy and practices.
- Advocate – locally and globally – for inclusive, sustainable urban food systems.
Declaration of engagement: https://ufs-coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Urban-Food-Systems-Coalition-Declaration-of-Engagement.pdf
