Sneak Preview: Worldwatch Institute’s “State of the World 2011” – Chapter 1

Book to be launched January 12, 2011

From Nourishing the Planet: In just a few short weeks State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet will be launched! We’re excited to share with you a sneak preview of Chapter 1 entitled, “Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger,” authored by co-project directors Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg.

Excerpt:

And while most of the world’s poor and hungry remain in rural areas, hunger is often migrating as the world becomes more urban. Where people in cities have jobs and can afford their next meal, the food may come from far away. But for slum dwellers in Kenya and Ghana, the most reliable source of nourishment is often what they can grow themselves in patio gardens, on vacant lots, or on parcels of land near slums. At least 800 million people worldwide depend on urban agriculture for most of their food needs.

Right now the majority of these urban farmers are in Asia, but with 14 million Africans migrating from country to city each year, the residents of Lagos, Dakar, and Nairobi will likely become as dependent on food raised in cities as people who live in Hanoi, Shanghai, and Phnom Penh. Urban agriculture is already an important source of income for millions of Africans. In Chapter 10, Nancy Karanja and Mary Njenga note that the poor in cities are not only supplying food to their own communities but are also establishing seed multiplication projects, making their “farms” an important source of local seed for urban and rural farmers alike.

See the whole chapter here.