RUAF Update 11 – Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security

RUAF Update # 11
May 2009

1. THE RUAF-CITIES FARMING FOR THE FUTURE PROGRAMME

The RUAF Cities Farming for the Future programme ended in 2008 with very positive results. Activities of RUAF continued in most of the cities in the follow up programme From Seed to Table (see below). The final report, has been finalised and a summary can be found at www.ruaf.org soon.

Some of the overall results of the activities that have been implemented over the past period include:

- Twenty universities and other educational centres that were involved in RUAF-CFF have taken initiatives to include urban agriculture in their regular programme and are developing curricula and training modules, using the RUAF training materials as a starting point. In addition capacity has been built in urban agriculture of in total 206 trainers from 17 countries of which about one third are women.

- In total 1120 staff of local organisations (Municipalities, NGO’s, Universities, CBO’s, farmer groups and other), of which 40% female staff, have been trained in multi-stakeholder diagnosis and action planning on urban agriculture.

- Multi-stakeholder forums on urban agriculture have been established in all 19 cities RUAF-CFF was operating. These Multi-stakeholder Forums involve over 270 organisations (an average of 15 organisations per Forum/City) including Municipal departments, farmer groups, NGO’s, CBO’s, universities, local governmental organisations and other stakeholders in urban agriculture.

- In these 19 cities a City Strategic Agenda on urban agriculture has been developed and agreed, and (initial) actions are being implemented by the city partners. In 12 cities this Strategic Agenda has been published, 9 have been formally approved, of which 6 by the City Council, while formal approval for 9 other plans will take place in 2009. In most cases the Strategic Agenda has been or is being transferred into (or taken up in) formal policies, bye laws and regulations. In 9 cities urban agriculture is now integrated in the Master of Development plan of the city and in 6 cities this process is ongoing.

- In 4 cities, under influence of RUAF-CFF, an agricultural department or special unit or office on urban agriculture has been established.

- In 53 RUAF partner cities a RUAF-co-funded project has been implemented by local partners generating over Euro 500,000 in local matching contributions. The pilot projects benefitted in total over 3900 urban low income households (about 13000 beneficiaries) often with an increase in income between 10-20%, an improved diet, better organisation of the urban producers and better linkages with strategic support organisations.

- The experiences gained in the 20 RUAF partner cities were disseminated to 35 other cities in 23 countries

- Urban agriculture as a major national Food Security strategy has been included in several national policies and municipal land use plans.

Some important results per region:

Latin America

In Villa Maria del Triunfo, in Lima, a framework ordinance has been formally accepted, that recognizes urban agriculture as a legitimate and permanent activity in the city. Urban agriculture has been included in the Development Plan of the city, under the new administration. The Urban Farmers Network including 570 urban farmers was strengthened and is formally recognized by the Municipality. In Bogotá, urban agriculture has become part of the Economic, Social and Environmental Plan for 2008 – 2012. And in Brazil, as a result of RUAF’s intervention, a specific strategy is being formulated, under the National Food Security policy, on urban food security and agriculture in 12 of Brazil’s metropolitian regions.

Southern and East-Africa

Urban agriculture has been integrated in the Bulawayo Master Plan 2006-2015, in the Luveve Local Plan 2007, the Phillipi (Cape Town) Development Plan and in the Ndola Strategic development Plan. In these cities, various stakeholders participated, through the MSF, in the revision of the policy and its approval, which facilitated the coordination of activities of these actors. In addition, urban producers now actively participate in municipal discourse on urban agriculture. In Zimbabwe, a national policy is currently being developed.

Anglophone West Africa

In Ghana, urban agriculture has been incorporated into the national food and agriculture sector development policy (FASDEPII) document for action by Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) bye-laws on urban agriculture have been reviewed to meet the present circumstances related to urban agriculture in Accra. In Sierra Leone, a draft National Poverty Reduction Strategy Document of MAFFS and a draft national agriculture policy have been prepared.

Francophone West Africa

In Burkina Faso, urban agriculture has been included as an activity in the zoning plans of Bobo Dioulasso’s for the city’s open areas. In Porto Novo, Benin, the Municipality adopted urban agriculture as an important urban strategy, and allocated 8 Million FCFA to the implementation of urban agriculture related activities as well as several hectares of land were allocated for horticulture activities. At national level, urban agriculture is integrated in the Emergency Programme on Food Security in Benin.

MENA Region

The Municipality of Greater Amman agreed to dedicate at least 15% of land development permits to green spaces and home gardens. It will provide agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers to encourage citizens to plant their home gardens and use vacant spaces for agricultural production. A special Bureau was created and the Municipality has chosen urban agriculture as its main contribution to “2009 National Year of Agriculture in Jordan”. In Yemen, urban agriculture has been included in Sa’na’s new plans for a city greenbelt.

China

A new Department of Recreational and Sightseeing Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture was set up in 2008. This department will guide policy making and promote urban and peri-urban development in China, including funding support for many agricultural related projects.

IWMI India

After adoption of the Gampaha City Strategic Agenda by the city council and Western province, urban agriculture activities will be replicated from the original 6 to all 23 city districts in Gampaha. Urban agriculture has also for the first time being included in the Sri Lanka’s National Strategy for Food Sovereignty.

2. FROM SEED TO TABLE

The RUAF partners have started the new phase of the RUAF programme From Seed to Table (2009-2010), which builds on the results of the Cities Farming for the Future programme. As indicated above, the RUAF-CFF programme has been successful in effectively tackling some of the constraints limiting the development of safe and sustainable urban agriculture, notably the integration in urban policies and programmes and improved access to land, by facilitating capacity development among local authorities and other local stakeholders and facilitating multi-stakeholder policy making and action planning on urban agriculture. Both the enhanced integration of urban agriculture in urban policies and planning, and the strong participation of urban farmers and other stakeholder in this planning process, has paved the way for the current RUAF-From Seed to Table Programme (2009-2010), focussed on supporting poor urban farmers to develop safe and sustainable production, processing and marketing systems. In doing so, the FStT project will contribute to:

• Enhancing the income and food security of farming households by implementing “From Seed to Table” Projects (stimulating the transition from subsistence to more sustainable forms of urban agriculture)

• Strengthening the organisation of urban farmers groups and organisations and their capacities to innovate their farming systems and market chains and participate in multi-stakeholder dialogue and planning

• Enhancing the access of urban producers to (innovative forms of) credit and financing of urban agriculture activities, and

• Further consolidating the recently established City Multi-stakeholder Forums on Urban Agriculture in the partner cities and advance in national policy formulation on urban agriculture.

In the context of the FStT programme, regional RUAF teams have been trained in 2 global workshops (January and May 2009) in the project methodology related to diagnosis, design and planning, implementing and monitoring of urban agriculture value chain projects. On their turn regional partners have trained local teams in all partner cities.

For the complete RUAF Update 11, go here.