Africa’s rapid urbanisation, particularly in smaller cities, strains local governments’ capacity to address challenges such as infrastructure, service delivery, poverty, hunger and climate change (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2018). With limited authority and resources, these governments struggle to provide essential services including food security, which is critical for health and economic stability (Smit 2016; Battersby & Watson 2019). As a result, African cities lack effective policy frameworks to manage urban food systems.
This brief examines urban food governance at the subnational level. Drawing on literature, case studies and interviews, it advocates for agroecology-driven, multi-level governance for sustainable food systems.
The FAO and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives–Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) outline pathways for urban food system transformation, including developing integrated food policies, enhancing public food procurement, investing in infrastructure, fostering territorial linkages, creating inclusive finance systems, supporting data management, promoting urban agriculture, integrating food in urban planning, leading climate action and reducing food waste and loss (FAO & ICLEI 2021; ICLEI 2023). Key levers for transition include multistakeholder dialogues, fostering knowledge exchange, ensuring inclusivity, linking dialogue to action and institutionalisation.
Key recommendations for philanthropic investment into urban food systems are:
- Investing in cities already pursuing food system transitions: By funding multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) that include national actors, operationalising food councils and supporting policy development and implementation. Philanthropists can fund research and advocacy for urban food policies that integrate agroecology, climate resilience and social equity.
- Building the capacity of local governance actors: To set their own priorities and improve on food policy integration and budgeting. This can include enabling data-driven decision-making and knowledge-sharing to enhance policy design.
- Supporting the scaling up of successful initiatives and their replication: In other cities, particularly intermediate cites.
- Strengthening civil society participation in food governance: By supporting neighbourhood-level structures and mechanisms that enable public engagement and investing in accessible technologies to enhance societal engagement.
- Building practitioner communities: To foster knowledge exchange and the sharing of best practice between networks and city governance actors.
- Investing in climate resilience initiatives: Such as circular and green economy initiatives, sustainable land use planning, regenerative urban food production and biodiversity conservation.
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