Toward SDG 2: Food security and urbanization in the Global South
This policy brief (PDF) from the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) argues that urban food insecurity is significantly distinct from rural food insecurity and that therefore insecurity in urban areas must be addressed through a different set of policies. The brief provides policy suggestions for national governments in the Global South on how to improve sustainable, healthy food access in urban areas, and identifies issues that need to be addressed. National governments are targeted because they are the signatories of the SDGs and can coordinate with other levels of government to implement the policy recommendations necessary for improving food access. The brief suggests that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture“) provides an avenue for governments to create and develop food security-related policies and regulations. While supermarkets are increasingly common in cities in the Global South, informal economies and state food distribution programs still play an important role in meeting food security needs of urban poor. Therefore, strategies proposed include the use of formal and informal food channels, as well as direct government intervention. The authors recommend governments to support the role of the informal food economy, integrate non-food issues related to food security (such as spatial planning and infrastructure), collaborate with supermarkets to create policies catering to the poor and track food consumption patterns to develop strategies for improved food options. The brief includes case studies in Mexico, China, Kenya, India that focus on the relation between urbanization, local food markets, supermarkets and food security.