CGIAR Initiative: Resilient Cities Through Sustainable Urban and Peri-Urban Agrifood Systems <p class="ql-align-justify">By 2050,&nbsp;more&nbsp;than&nbsp;two&nbsp;in&nbsp;three&nbsp;people&nbsp;on&nbsp;the planet will live in an urban environment, including over 5.5&nbsp;billion&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href="https://unctadstat.unctad.org/EN/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">LMICs</a><span style="background-color: inherit;">i</span>.&nbsp;<a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/454961511210702794/pdf/Food-systems-for-an-urbanizing-world-knowledge-product.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">The agrifood sector&nbsp;will play a central role in humanity’s transition to an urban world over the next generation</a><span style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: inherit;">ii</span>.&nbsp;Local&nbsp;and global&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;systems need to&nbsp;step up and adapt&nbsp;to feed and nourish expanding&nbsp;urban populations,&nbsp;reduce&nbsp;human and environmental health risks,&nbsp;and&nbsp;secure&nbsp;economic&nbsp;opportunities&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;urban&nbsp;poor.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133762" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">COVID-19 pandemic</a><span style="background-color: inherit;">iii</span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nccarf.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Burton_2013_Urban_food_security.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">climate emergencies</a>&nbsp;have further&nbsp;highlighted&nbsp;the&nbsp;urgency&nbsp;for&nbsp;research&nbsp;and&nbsp;innovation to&nbsp;help&nbsp;strengthen food system resilience&nbsp;on a rapidly urbanizing planet.&nbsp;Securing a future for productive, green, and livable&nbsp;cities with healthy populations has become a&nbsp;<a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35137" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">global&nbsp;priority</a><span style="background-color: inherit;">iv</span>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: inherit;">v</span>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: inherit;">vi</span>. Countries in&nbsp;CGIAR&nbsp;target&nbsp;regions&nbsp;are&nbsp;struggling&nbsp;to&nbsp;keep&nbsp;pace&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;implications&nbsp;of&nbsp;rapid urbanization&nbsp;and&nbsp;are&nbsp;demanding&nbsp;technically&nbsp;sound,&nbsp;equitable&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://agrf.org/agrf2021-old/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/AGRF-Summit-Report-web-2020.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">scalable&nbsp;solutions</a><span style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">&nbsp;in the&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;sector</span><span style="background-color: inherit;">vii</span>.&nbsp;Key challenges&nbsp;for&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;action in&nbsp;urban and peri-urban (abbreviated as UPU in this proposal; see&nbsp;<a href="https://cgiar-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/performanceandresult_cgiar_org/EWMVJZbisRZInWAbLyAr4ZgBLTLANHlOtCc-HyYduVZKBQ?rtime=E--5KWau2Ug" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Annex 1</a>&nbsp;for the full list of acronyms)&nbsp;environments&nbsp;include growing pollution and environmental degradation, increasing social and economic inequalities, growing competition for land and water resources, and&nbsp;<a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35936" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">weak or absent agrifood governance structures</a>.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Agrifood&nbsp;systems&nbsp;can&nbsp;rise&nbsp;to meet these challenges.&nbsp;Harnessing the tremendous urban capacities for innovation and supported by&nbsp;scientific research,&nbsp;UPU&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;systems can generate technological, institutional and social change that&nbsp;can&nbsp;secure&nbsp;food and livelihoods for future urban generations.&nbsp;CGIAR research is well positioned to&nbsp;provide global leadership in this process, building&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="http://cipotato.org/wp-content/uploads/publication%20files/fact-sheets-flyer-leaflet/002592.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">previous</a><span style="background-color: inherit;">viii</span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://wle.cgiar.org/research/themes/rural-urban-linkages" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">ongoing</a><span style="background-color: inherit;">ix</span>&nbsp;research&nbsp;together with our partners.&nbsp;Within an integrated UPU resilience perspective, five entry points stand out for immediate research action:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Making&nbsp;UPU&nbsp;food production (vegetables, livestock and fish) more efficient, safer, and sustainable by improving smallholder access to better technologies, practices, services and clean production&nbsp;environments;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Improving informal urban food markets&nbsp;and&nbsp;rural-urban supply chains through access to appropriate technologies (storage, processing) and business development&nbsp;services that strengthen economic opportunities for women and&nbsp;youth;&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Improving urban food environments and creating demand for and access to healthier diets for the&nbsp;urban poor to counteract&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673619324973" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">rising double-burden of overnutrition and undernutrition</a><span style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: inherit;">x</span>,&nbsp;and diet-related&nbsp;NCDs;&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Supporting innovations&nbsp;for&nbsp;a circular bioeconomy by turning urban&nbsp;(food)&nbsp;waste and wastewater into safe and efficient resources for food production, driven by&nbsp;public-private partnerships; and&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Developing improved research capacities and tools to support UPU&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;governance, innovation services, and investment planning for sustainable&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;sector growth.&nbsp;</li></ol><p class="ql-align-justify">In&nbsp;addressing these challenges, the&nbsp;<em>Resilient Cities Through Sustainable Urban and Peri-urban&nbsp;Agrifood&nbsp;Systems</em>&nbsp;Initiative (Resilient Cities, for short) will approach&nbsp;<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf7439" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">UPU agrifood systems as part of highly dynamic urban systems</a>&nbsp;rather than as extensions of rural agricultural systems and foster new research collaborations across different urban economic and social sectors.&nbsp;Unlike in rural areas,&nbsp;the&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;sector often has low visibility and support&nbsp;within the urban policy and investment context – resulting in missed economic and social opportunities and increased health and environmental risks.&nbsp;An important part of the challenge, therefore, is to engage urban stakeholders and policy makers more effectively in&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;systems&nbsp;policy and technical dialogues.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p>