Neighbourhoods: the ideal food planning laboratories for cities

Cities are increasingly driving global food consumption and have a major influence on our food systems. Although there is growing awareness of their role in driving sustainable changes, many cities lack comprehensive food system policies developed on the basis of widespread citizen engagement and multidisciplinary research. The Healthy Food Neighbourhood project implemented from 2021 to 2023 with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC Canada) sought to understand some of the major food challenges facing metropolitan cities such as Lima (Peru) and Quito (Ecuador), namely unsustainable supply chains and food insecurity.

Led by Rikolto, the project was implemented in consortium with Ecosad and Funsad to promote multi-stakeholder spaces to address food security challenges and to build a systemic understanding of healthy food production and consumption through research and action, in both cities.

We released over 25 studies and publications with findings that advocate for more sustainable food systems in Lima and Quito's multi-stakeholder spaces and platforms.

Lima and Quito: food systems under pressure

The Metropolitan Area of Lima in Peru, with a population of over 9 million, is heavily dependent on food imports, producing less than 1% of the food consumed and 3% of the vegetables purchased. The city is also home to 49% of the country's markets (2,215 in total), many of which face concerns about agrochemical contamination of food. Farming areas along the river in the Lurin and Chillon valleys have been shrinking over the last decade because of real estate pressure and low profits for farmers. In addition, the seasonality of the crops prompts producers to opt for large-scale production to meet Lima's demand, rather than agroecological practices that are part of the differentiated value of their food supply.

In Quito about 95% of the food consumed in the city comes from outside its borders. In addition, the city has stopped relying on food produced in its immediate rural area, weakening its resilience to climate shocks and to the threat posed by the volcanoes surrounding the city. COVID-19 exposed the fragility of their urban food systems.

What did we learn from food neighbourhoods during the pandemic?

The core hypothesis of the project is that to improve food availability and access in cities over time, planning needs to be approached at multiple scales, starting from the neighbourhood level.

Food neighbourhoods are territories made up of a group of households, delimited by the distance people can walk to buy healthy and affordable food, whether at a market, an agroecological fair, a bodega or any other place where they can acquire food. During the pandemic, traditional food markets and wholesale markets were closed, as were the bioferias (organic markets) that operated in parks and squares in Quito and Lima. The public response focused on delivering food baskets and snacks to vulnerable people, but these initiatives proved to be inefficient and sometimes involved allegations of corruption.

In neighbourhoods, which are also spaces of social action and collective struggle, solidarity-based responses to food insecurity and economic inequality flourished. The communitarian and local urban gardens (Quito) and community kitchens (Lima) initiatives have mitigated the risk of food insecurity by providing healthy and local food to the most vulnerable. Their contribution begs the question: why did people go hungry if food was available?

To answer this question, we conducted in-depth research that included observation practices, data collection from markets and urban gardens, consumer surveys and a mapping of food responses implemented by communities to cope with food uncertainty during the pandemic.

The studies showed that public policies implemented to address the food emergency fell short in ensuring the right to food in the neighbourhoods and neglected community experiences that helped reduce food insecurity and hunger. Small-scale solutions are often overlooked when working at the municipal or national level. Urban gardens, though small and geared towards production for personal use, can form micro-food networks that build resilience in times of crisis by providing healthy food to neighbours who did not receive government support. The findings were shared with policymakers and other stakeholders to feed into the formulation of public food policies.

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