Transformative Initiative: Strengthening local fresh food markets for healthier food environments within planetary boundaries

In cities throughout Africa, marketplaces have emerged as a vital space for intervention for food systems education and awareness, for direct improvements to infrastructure and services, and locations for value-addition to food and associated livelihood generation. Based on this observation, CityFood will kick-off a new project in January 2024, funded by GIZ, and focused on the potential of fresh food markets.

The project will seek to empower citizens to shift to healthier and more diversified nutrition, while improving urban food environments. While implementation will focus on two African cities - Lusaka (Zambia) and Lilongwe (Malawi) - the project will also engage cities around the world to exchange experiences, challenges and best practices related to food markets. Project activities will notably include action-driven multi-stakeholder dialogues in Lusaka and Lilongwe, high-level consultations with local governments around the world to assess current challenges and opportunities related to fresh food markets, as well as city-to-city exchange webinars to foster knowledge sharing across countries and world regions.