Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change - weADAPT

lines of supply from often rural places of production to urban places of consumption,greater attention is now also being paid to the production of food within urban areas.The production of food within urban areas is an important component of urbanagriculture, along with systems of food processing, distribution and sale. Themanagement of waste from these processes is also an important element in this broadconception of urban agriculture.There is scope, therefore, for urban agriculture to make an important contribution tourban food security. This can in turn help build urban resilience and sustainable formsof urban life. However, to maximise its contribution and impact, urban agriculture mustbe integrated into broader food systems and into more comprehensive programs ofmetropolitan planning for resilience and sustainability. But food policy is rarelyconnected with other policy fields and if it is to become more influential it must becomemore integrated with other elements of urban policy.While the urban poor clearly experience all too intensely the effects of food insecurityand have limited means to overcome these effects, food insecurity affects all urbanresidents to some extent. While relatively wealthy urban residents may be better ablethan their poorer neighbours to afford to buy healthy and nutritious food they willnevertheless be similarly affected by major disruptions to urban food supplies.Anticipated climate change is likely to lead to more extreme weather events which arethe main source of these major disruptions to urban food supplies. Moreover, theviability and productivity of existing food production systems is also likely to beseriously compromised by local manifestations of climate change.Urban agriculture has the potential, therefore, to contribute to the adaptations that allcities are engaged in if they are to be more resilient in the face a variety of existentialthreats, including climate change. Insofar as it represents a form of localised foodproduction and consumption that requires fewer energy inputs than more spatiallyextensive and energy intensive forms, it also has the potential to help mitigate thefactors causing climate change.While there are few (if any) studies to date that have attempted quantify the potential ofurban agriculture to make cities more food secure, there are many which catalogue itssocial and community benefits. These include the development of stronger socialconnections in urban communities, increased awareness of the benefits of fresh fruitand vegetables and locally produced food in a healthy diet, greater appreciation of thesources of food and of the connections between processes of food preparation andfood quality. Urban agriculture also has the potential to re-establish connectionsbetween food and place that were once common in Australian cities, but which have toa great extent withered over the last four decades. All of these social impacts may beas significant as the nutritional benefits of urban agriculture.The increasingly complex systems of regulation that operate within Australian cities,especially those relating to land use planning, health and safety and the operation ofsmall businesses, often serve to thwart attempts to develop and grow new forms ofurban agriculture. While this may not be the intention of such regulatory regimes, theycan nevertheless inhibit unnecessarily these new enterprises.Urban agriculture represents, therefore, an important opportunity for cities to adapt inthe face of climate change. It is unlikely that the major cities of Australia will everbecome completely self-sufficient in food, but through greater support for urbanagriculture they are likely to become more food secure. This in turn will contribute tothe overall resilience of Australian cities and to their sustainable growth in the future.Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change 99