Urban and Peri-urban agriculture for climate resilient and inclusive cities

Parallel event at the 8th Global Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact

When: Tuesday, 18 October 2022, from 18:00 – 18:45 local time

Where: City of Arts, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

About: Cities and regions are highly vulnerable to climate change due to factors that include high population density, large numbers of people in socioeconomic vulnerability, food insecurity and large concentrations of material and cultural goods (IPCC, 2022).

Promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture (e.g. community gardens, rooftops, etc.) can reduce climate change adaptation costs in cities (IPCC, 2022). It also benefits local sustainability and resiliency, job creation, recycling of waste, sustainable food production, and education on healthier diets.  

In this parallel event at the 8th Global Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, UNEP will present messages from scientific reports on the topic of urban and peri-urban agriculture and sustainable food systems. 

This will be followed by the presentation of three Brazilian initiatives: 

• A guideline for municipalities to integrate urban agriculture in urban planning, based on the TEEBAgriFood Framework
• A feasibility study for Food public procurement from urban and peri-urban gardens in Rio de Janeiro State, a UNEP partnership with Unicamp and the State government. 
• Initiatives and institutional arrangements to promote Urban Agriculture in Rio de Janeiro city. 

Speakers will discuss challenges faced, benefits generated, as well as institutional arrangements needed to improve governance and collaboration in urban agriculture for sustainable food systems.

Speakers:

• Regina Cavini - United Nations Environment Programme, Representative (interim)
• Jéssica Chryssafidis - researcher at the FGV Center for Sustainability Studies
• Carolina Bueno and Lilian de Pellegrini Elias - Center for Agricultural Economics and the Environment at the University of Campinas
• Júlio Cesar Barros – Agronomist and specialist in Urban Agriculture
• Rafael Zavala - FAO representative in Brazil
• David Hertz, Co-founder and President of Gastromotiva