- CIHEAM Zaragoza strengthens ties with the World Sustainable Urban Food Centre (CEMAS) in Valencia
The secretary general of CIHEAM, Plácido Plaza, the director of CIHEAM Zaragoza, Raúl Compés, and the director of the World Sustainable Urban Food Centre of Valencia (CEMAS), Vicente Domingo, have held a working meeting to open up a new channel of collaboration between both organizations. The meeting has enabled future synergies to be explored in training and knowledge transfer – strategic activities for both organizations.
Compés explains that “CIHEAM is a point of reference in specialized international training in the agriculture and food sector whose corporate activities include promotion of sustainable food systems, particularly through the Mediterranean diet. This is the point where the activities of our organization coincide with the sustainable urban agenda of CEMAS, which incorporates the nutritional aspects of the diet as a priority”.
During this encounter, CIHEAM Zaragoza and CEMAS have made progress in the exchange of experiences and knowledge of sustainable food systems and urban food production. Compés adds: “From now onwards we will try to organize joint activities”.
Created in 2019 by the City Council of Valencia and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CEMAS manages and coordinates activities to strengthen knowledge and outreach of topics related to food, nutrition, the fight against hunger, climate change, and local sustainable food systems that can serve as example for other cities.
THE ROLE OF CITIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
According to the FAO, a sustainable food system is one that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations is not compromised. The UN Food Systems Summit, held during the UN General Assembly in New York on 23 September 2021, set the stage for the transformation of world food systems in order to reach the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
As for the European Union, in 2023 the European Commission will present the proposal of the legislative framework for sustainable food systems (FSFS), one of the flagship initiatives of the Farm to Fork Strategy. The objective is to speed up and facilitate the transition towards more sustainable food systems.
The role of cities in this new global food paradigm was established definitively in Milan in 2015. On the occasion of Expo 2015, with the theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, more than one hundred mayors and local authorities signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) on 15 October 2015.
This pact was spearheaded by the mayor of Milan, who worked with a group of 46 cities from across the world, committed to "develop sustainable, inclusive, resilient, safe and diverse food systems, that provide healthy and affordable food for everyone in a framework based on human rights, that keep food waste to a minimum, and conserve biodiversity whilst adapting and mitigating the impacts of climate change".
The main objective is to support the cities that wish to develop more sustainable urban food systems by encouraging mutual cooperation and the exchange of good practices. Priority elements are to guarantee healthy and affordable food for everyone, protect biodiversity, and combat food waste. It includes a list of 37 recommendations, grouped in 6 categories, accompanied by a series of indicators to control their implementation. The Pact currently involves more than two hundred cities, and is open to any city in the world.
In recent years, numerous initiatives have arisen to guide and support cities in designing policies and strategies for sustainable food systems.
THE AGRIFOOD SYSTEM IS NO LONGER JUST A RURAL AND AGRICULTURAL MATTER
There is general consensus about the need for active involvement of cities to reach the objective of sustainable food systems and SDG 2 and 11. The agrifood system is no longer just a rural and agricultural matter, the urban world has a significant role that will grow in the future.
On 15 November 2022, the world population reached 8 billion. More than 55 % are city dwellers and this percentage is estimated to grow to 60 % in 2030, and increase further to 68 % in 2025 (World Population Prospects, UN, 2022). In the case of Spain, the urban population is 81.06 % (according to 2021 data of the World Bank). By way of comparison, Portugal has 67 %, Italy has 71 %, Germany has 78 % and France has 81 %.
More and more people live in cities and this affects the whole food chain, from consumer behaviour to food distribution and production. In particular, the urban food consumption patterns have a large impact on the status of citizens’ nutrition and health, food loss and waste, food safety and emissions, among other effects. Crisis such as Covid-19 have emphasized that urban environments are particularly vulnerable.
As a result of these rapid changes, unlike in the past, cities are at the heart of the food challenge.