Urbanization is one of the key drivers of change in the world today. The world‟s urban population currently stands at around 3.5 billion. It will almost double to more than 6 billion by 2050. This is a challenge not only for urban areas but also for rural areas, because many people, especially the young, will migrate from rural areas to urban areas over this period. When addressing urbanization challenges, we are also addressing, directly or indirectly, rural and territorial development. What do we have to do to ensure people‟s access to good nutrition in cities?

More than 50 senior representatives from 12 countries representing various sectors - health, agriculture (horticulture/livestock), fisheries, agricultural marketing, agricultural policy planning, urban development, NGOs, academia and industry - attended the regional workshop on strengthening urban and peri-urban agriculture towards resilient food systems in Asia.

Recent demographic, social, economic and institutional changes have aggravated the food supplies and distribution problems of African cities, all of which will be doubling their current population in less than twenty years. Very few initiatives have been taken to improve the performance of food supply and distribution systems (FSDS) to cities and minimise the cost at which good quality food products reach the urban consumers' tables. For this reason, FAO and the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA) organised in Dakar, Senegal, in April 1997, a sub-regional seminar

In every region of the world, landscapes are being transformed. Rural people are migrating to urban centres in search of economic and social opportunities while city dwellers are becoming interested in producing their own food and moving outside the centres to be able to appreciate nature. These changes in lifestyles have implications for the food system and nutritional status of populations.

Les villes des pays en développement connaissent une croissance rapide. Ce processus est souvent accompagné de niveaux élevés de pauvreté et de faim qui poussent beaucoup d'habitants urbains à entreprendre des activités agricoles pour satisfaire leurs besoins alimentaires. Les décideurs doivent être conscients de cette réalité et tirer parti des possibilités offertes par l'agriculture urbaine.

Cities and towns around the world continue to grow at different rates and increasingly bear the costs of food and nutrition insecurity. Cities often view themselves as having a limited role in ensuring access by all their inhabitants to sufficient, adequate, affordable, nutritious and safe food. A city region food system (CRFS) approach provides a critical lens for analysis while supporting on-the-ground policy transformation and implementation. Working at city region level can leverage the complexity of rural-urban linkages to a practical level by making food the common denominator.

Dans ce numéro, nous examinerons le Partenariat mondial sur les bioénergies et le travail important qu’il a entrepris – en collaboration avec les gouvernements et les institutions internationales – pour formuler des indicateurs de durabilité pour les projets de bioénergie. Nous nous intéresserons aussi à l’Initiative ‘Aliments pour les villes’, une approche intégratrice pour coordonner les activités de la FAO dans les zones urbaines et périurbaines et pour partager les bonnes pratiques avec d’autres organisations internationales et de la société civile.

Food availability, access, stability and utilization are all part of the multi-dimensional nature of food security. The “availability” aspect, discussed here, refers to the availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or inputs.

Diretrizes de Apoio e Promoção da Agricultura Familiar nos Estados membros da CPLP aprovadas na II Reunião extraordinária do Conselho Regional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional da CPLP (CONSAN-CPLP)