Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change - weADAPT

5. CONCLUSIONSThere is growing concern about the vulnerability of our cities to a number of factors,including peak oil, global economic crises and climate change. Each of these is likely tohave profound effects on the security of urban food supplies. Recent disasters,especially floods, have highlighted the fragility of food supply lines to Australian cities.Experience in the rapidly growing cities of the global south provides vivid illustrations ofthe damaging consequences for social order and civility if food security is seriouslycompromised in anything but the very short term.Most theoretical and conceptual work on food security derives from and in manyrespects is most applicable to developing countries and to cities in developingcountries. As Australia is not a developing country, the question is: do concepts of foodsecurity from developing countries apply to Australia? And if these concepts areapplicable, can they be modified to take account of the particular circumstances of adeveloped country like Australia?This section summarises our findings and conclusions under three broad headings:meanings and conceptualisations of food security; the anticipated impacts of climatechange on food security; and the contribution of urban agriculture to building urbanresilience, before closing with a brief discussion of future possibilities.5.1 The concept of food securityMost theoretical and conceptual work on food security derives from and in manyrespects is most applicable to developing countries and to cities in developingcountries. As Australia is not a developing country, the question is: do these generalconcepts of food security from developing countries apply readily to Australia? If theseconcepts are applicable, can they be modified to take account of the particularcircumstances of a developed country like Australia?There is growing global concern about the vulnerability of cities to a number ofexistential threats, including peak oil, global economic crises and climate change. Eachof these is likely to have profound effects on food security in general and on thesecurity of food supplies to cities in particular. Recent disasters, especially floods andstorms, have highlighted the fragility of food supply lines to Australian cities while therapidly growing cities of the global south provide vivid illustrations of the damagingconsequences for social order and civility if food security is seriously compromised inanything but the very short term.Food security is typically defined in terms of access to food as well as its affordabilityand availability while some also refer to the cultural acceptability of food and to theagency of institutions promoting greater food security (FAO, 2006; Ryerson Centre forStudies in Food Security, 2013). But other related concepts are also used increasinglyin policy and other debates as a result of criticism of the limited and absolutistconception of the FAO approach. Food sovereignty, for example, was introduced bythe International Peasant Farmers’ organisation La Via Campesina in 1996 as anecessary precursor for food security (Patel 2009) and while there is a diversity ofunderstandings of food sovereignty, at the heart of most is a rights-based approachUrban food security, urban resilience and climate change 57