Rome, 23 November 2000- At the dawn of the third millennium, more than half
of the world's population lives in cities or urban areas. This creates a
major challenge to feed an increasing population on existing land and water
resources. The world community also needs innovative ideas to change the
way we manage our cities. By 2015, 26 cities in the world, are expected to
have populations of 10 million or more. In Asia, in particular, with the
highest concentration of cities in the world, 20 to 40 percent of the urban
population are poor and run the risk of becoming tomorrow's most food insecure.
"We are confronted by a major challenge: to respond to the basic needs of
those who don't have access to adequate quantities of nutritional food, with
increasing urbanization and food demand on the rise, with over 50% of humanity
already living in cities and towns of which a high proportion of poor households
live in slums ", according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"It is essential to reduce the cost of food paid by the poor urban families
and to improve the quality and variety of food products available in urban
areas. This can be achieved through more efficient rural, periurban and urban
food production, food transport, storage, processing and distribution
activities", says Mr. Olivio Argenti, an FAO Economist, specialized in food
marketing in developing countries. "In fact, the task of adequately feeding
the cities requires the co-ordinated interaction of food producers, transporters,
market operators and a myriad of retail sellers. In Bangkok, as in previous
regional seminars, FAO's intention is to sensitize City and Local Governments
and assist them in formulating sound policies and programmes."
National, international organizations and institutions concerned with urban
food security in Asia will gather in the Thai capital Bangkok, to attend
an FAO promoted regional seminar "Feeding Asian Cities" , from 27 to 30 November
2000. "Asian Cities, like many cities of Africa and Latin America, are growing
rapidly. The extent of urban food insecurity and possible interventions to
alleviate it are not sufficiently appreciated by central and local government
institutions and by the international community", explains Mr. Argenti.
A key concern is to ensure adequate food and nutritional intake by poor and
vulnerable groups, especially the unemployed, workers with unstable incomes
or nursing mothers and children who live in slums and periurban areas. FAO
experts believe that sound policies on feeding cities can also contribute
to creating formal and informal employment opportunities as well as to reducing
food contamination and thus health and environmental problems.
FAO's initiative for "Food Supply and Distribution to Cities" constitutes
a major follow-up to the 1996 World Food Summit. It draws attention to the
need to improve the efficiency of food supply and distribution activities
and rural-urban linkages. This is achieved mainly through institutional
strengthening and cooperation.
"Rapid urbanization in Asian cities is characterized by spreading street
begging, unregulated use of open spaces for urban and periurban agriculture,
inadequate and ill-managed market infrastructure, long distances from markets,
contributing to increasing food prices", according to Mr. Olivio Argenti.
Many cities in the world face food supply and distribution problems. Their
specific constraints, the solutions that have been identified, the available
professional experience and expertise, can be most valuable to other cities
who need to strengthen the skills of their managerial and technical staff
in identifying local problems and sustainable solutions. North-South and
South-South partnerships among cities (particularly among twinned cities)
will receive special attention during the seminar.
In Bangkok, FAO will raise awareness of the need for Mayors, City Executives
and Urban Planners to play a proactive and leading role in developing efficient
food supply and distribution systems in favour of the urban poor. The Rome-based
UN Food Agency will call on its partners for increased technical support
to City and Local Governments. The Asian seminar, organized by CityNet and
the Association of Food Marketing Agencies in Asia and the Pacific (AFMA),
has also received support from GTZ, France, the Inter-governmental francophone
Agency, the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and the World
Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM).
**********
Further information on the Bangkok Seminar "Feeding Asian Cities" is available
on the Internet at:
http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/agsm/sada/asia/index.htm
or please contact:
-Mr. Olivio Argenti,FAO Economist, Marketing and Rural Finance Service
(Agriculture Department) at sada@fao.org
-Mr. Diderick de Vleeschauwer, FAO Regional Information Officer, Bangkok,
Thailand at: Tel.:(662) 281-7844; fax:(662)280-0445); E-Mail:
FAO-RAP@fao.org
************
Sound clips (2)
1. FAO expert Olivio Argenti, said in an interview with Liliane Kambirigi
(FAO Information Division), that dynamic policies and strategies needed to
be put in place to stop a growing poverty in growing Asian cities.
Duration: 2min17sec
In Realaudio (282Kb- Instant play)
Interview
In mp3 (Broadcast quality , to be downloaded,
1,040Kb)
ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/Radio/MP3/Feeding-the-cities-Engl.mp3
2. The Indian city of Calcutta, West Bengal, is enlarging at a rapid
pace. Although the city is regularly supplied with locally-produced rice
and wheat by the State, food habits are being deeply modified by street and
fast food. The problem will be addressed in Bangkok by the Mayor of Calcutta,
Mr. Mookerjee SUBRATA. This is what he confirmed to the FAO Radio unit.
Duration: 1min57
In Realaudio (Instant play, 242
KB)
Interview
In mp3 (942Kb to be
downloaded)
ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/Radio/MP3/Feedingthecities-Calcutta-e.mp3
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Media player, Quicktime 4.0;RealplayerG2,etc...
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If you can't download, please call the radio unit for a feed: tel: 039-06-5705
6863 / 3223
