Over half of the world’s population live in cities. By 2050, it is expected that almost seven out of ten people will reside in cities, with 90% of this growth occurring in Africa and Asia. Urbanisation is linked to increasing rates of overweight and obesity, yet undernutrition is also prevalent in cities. These areas are confronted by an increasingly complex challenge to address malnutrition in all its forms.
There is an urgent need to support cities in shaping a world that is free of malnutrition, in the face of climate change and rapid urbanisation. To encourage healthy diets, city governments must positively influence the urban food environment – where people interact with food and how they choose what they will, or can, eat. For this, governments can use tools already available to them, including taxes, subsidies, planning ordinances, public procurement requirements, information campaigns and marketing regulations. Governments can, and should, work together with businesses, civil society groups, academia and others to develop action plans to improve urban nutrition.
Urban Governance for Nutrition - one of GAIN's newest programmes - brings diverse stakeholders together to develop policies and actions that help to equitably and sustainably shape urban food environments to deliver healthy diets.
We aim to:
- Promote the inclusion of nutrition in city governance and urban food system activities.
- Support the fundamental role of city governments and the use of governance to address urban malnutrition.
- Test our approach in a range of cities to develop good practices.
- Leverage GAIN’s experience with the private sector and alliance building to promote multisectoral engagement and alliances for better urban nutrition.
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