The purpose of this brief is to take stock of the variety of urban food environment initiatives underway across Africa and compile these into an actionable menu of investment opportunities. The brief outlines the rationale for increased investment focus into urban food environments to guide strategic operational discussions on how and where investment can have the greatest catalytic impact.
Key messages
The messages highlighted in the brief are:
- Given Africa’s rapid urban growth trajectory, cities must act now to establish the policies, infrastructure and cultural frameworks necessary to create healthy food environments and prevent long-term path dependencies in urban food systems
- Clear pathways exist for investing in diverse actions for food environments
- The impact of these diverse actions could be leveraged through support for overarching coordination
- There is a current funding gap of US$100 million that could be deployed into existing initiatives over the next five years.
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