Beyond Silos: Lessons from African Cities on Participatory Urban Food Systems Governance
A side session at the 12th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, organised by the AfriFOODlinks project.
How can cities work together to build more sustainable and resilient food systems? This session explores how collaborative city networks and participatory governance can drive meaningful change in urban food development.
Funded through the European Union's Horizon Europe programme, AfriFOODlinks has sought to address this challenge by building a collaborative network of cities, research institutions and civil society organisations across Africa and Europe.
A key dimension of this work has been strengthening local governance structures that enable meaningful dialogue between different actors within cities. In Lusaka, the project supported the establishment of a Food Desk aimed at promoting evidence-based policymaking through improved research and information sharing. In Mbale, the Good Food Parliament provides a multi-stakeholder platform that develops strategies to improve the urban food environment and promote the consumption of healthy, safe and nutritious food. In Kisumu, the Food Liaison Advisory Council (FLACK) brings together city government, civil society and food system actors to coordinate local food policy.
Beyond these local mechanisms, AfriFOODlinks has also fostered structured exchanges between cities, enabling partners to share experiences and learn from one another. By connecting municipalities through peer learning across different contexts, the project has helped create a platform where local experiences can inform broader policy discussions and inspire new approaches elsewhere. This session will share practical lessons from this work - on building strong partnerships between cities, research institutions and civil society; on governance platforms that foster dialogue and coordination at the city level; and on how city-to-city exchange can boost local capacity and support the replication of successful initiatives in other urban contexts.
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