Greening Urban Food Systems

Start and End Dates: 

March 2023 to Feb 2025

Introduction to the Project:

As the field of research on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in cities expands, the potential of urban agriculture in the production of ecosystem services remains unexplored. Beyond the benefits of increasing food supply and reducing the vulnerability of urban populations, urban food systems can be at the heart of policies to develop nature-based solutions. This project studies the potential benefits of these systems in the perimeter of Bengaluru, an Indian city with a strong heritage in terms of urban agriculture.

Objectives: 

Taking the case study of Bengaluru, this project explores how and why urban food systems, in rapidly developing urban and peri-urban areas, can be seen as nature-based urban solutions that bring benefits to ecosystems and society.  Two research questions are addressed: 

• What is the scope and outcomes of urban agriculture for ecosystem services (including pollination) and societal well-being (such as food and nutritional security of the most vulnerable populations)? 
• How can we use different co-production pathways across the science-policy-citizen interface to scale up NBS around sustainable urban agricultural practices

Outputs:

The expected results of these projects are:

• Academic results on sustainable urban food systems in the context of rapidly urbanizing countries from the Global South, on urban NBS experiences and their effects on ecosystem services
• Knowledge outputs for urban decision-makers on the integration of NBS in urban planning
• Capacity building and teaching materials on multidisciplinary approaches to urban sustainability

Funded By:

Agence Française de Développement

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group funds, supports and accelerates the transition to a fairer and more sustainable world. Focusing on climate, biodiversity, peace, education, urban development, health and governance, their teams carry out more than 4,200 projects in France’s overseas departments and territories and another 150 countries.