Editing IPCC:AR6/SRCCL/Chapter-5 (section)

=== 5.6.5 Role of urban agriculture ===

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Cities are an important actor in the food system through demand for food by urban dwellers and production of food in urban and peri-urban areas (Cross-Chapter Box 4 in Chapter 2). Both the demand side and supply side roles are important relative to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Urban areas are home to more than half of the world’s population, and a minimal proportion of the production. Thus, they are important drivers for the development of the complex food systems in place today, especially with regard to supply chains and dietary preferences.

The increasing separation of urban and rural populations with regard to territory and culture is one of the factors favouring the nutrition transition towards urban diets (Weber and Matthews 2008 <sup>[[#fn:r1200|1200]]</sup> ; Neira et al. 2016 <sup>[[#fn:r1201|1201]]</sup> ). These are primarily based on a high diversity of food products, independent of season and local production, and on the extension of the distances that food travels between production and consumption. The transition of traditional diets to more homogeneous diets has also become tied to consumption of animal protein, which has increased GHG emissions globally (Section 5.4.6).

Cities are becoming key actors in developing strategies of mitigation to climate change, in their food procurement and in sustainable urban food policies alike (McPhearson et al. 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r1202|1202]]</sup> ). These are being developed by big and medium-sized cities in the world, often integrated within climate change policies (Moragues et al. 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r1203|1203]]</sup> and Calori and Magarini 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1204|1204]]</sup> ). A review of 100 cities shows that urban food consumption is one of the largest sources of urban material flows, urban carbon footprint, and land footprint (Goldstein et al. 2017 <sup>[[#fn:r1205|1205]]</sup> ). Additionally, the urban poor have limited capacity to adapt to climate-related impacts, which place their food security at risk under climate change (Dubbeling and de Zeeuw 2011 <sup>[[#fn:r1206|1206]]</sup> ).

'''Urban and peri-urban areas''' . In 2010, around 14% of the global population was nourished by food grown in urban and peri-urban areas (Kriewald et al. 2019 <sup>[[#fn:r1207|1207]]</sup> ). A review study on Sub-Saharan Africa shows that urban and peri-urban agriculture contributes to climate change adaptation and mitigation (Lwasa et al. 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1208|1208]]</sup> , 2015). Urban and peri-urban agriculture reduces the food carbon footprint by avoiding long distance food transport. These types of agriculture also limit GHG emissions by recycling organic waste and wastewater that would otherwise release methane from landfills and dumping sites (Lwasa et al. 2014). Urban and peri-urban agriculture also contribute in adapting to climate change, including extreme events, by reducing the urban heat island effect, increasing water infiltration and slowing down run-offs to prevent flooding, etc. (Lwasa et al. 2014, 2015; Kumar et al. 2017a <sup>[[#fn:r1209|1209]]</sup> ). For example, a scenario analysis shows that urban gardens reduce the surface temperature up to 10°C in comparison to the temperature without vegetation (Tsilini et al. 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1210|1210]]</sup> ). Urban agriculture can also improve biodiversity and strengthen associated ecosystem services (Lin et al. 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1211|1211]]</sup> ).

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is exposed to climate risks and urban growth that may undermine its long-term potential to address urban food security (Padgham et al. 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1212|1212]]</sup> ). Therefore, there is a need to better understand the impact of urban sprawl on peri-urban agriculture; the contribution of urban and peri-urban agriculture to food self-sufficiency of cities; the risks posed by pollutants from urban areas to agriculture and vice-versa; the global and regional extent of urban agriculture; and the role that urban agriculture could play in climate resilience and abating malnutrition (Mok et al. 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1213|1213]]</sup> ; Hamilton et al. 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1214|1214]]</sup> ). Globally, urban sprawl is projected to consume 1.8–2.4% and 5% of the current cultivated land by 2030 and 2050 respectively, leading to crop calorie loss of 3–4% and 6–7%, respectively (Pradhan et al. 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1215|1215]]</sup> and Bren d’Amour et al. 2017). Kriewald et al. 2019 shows that the urban growth has the largest impact in many sub-continental regions (e.g., Western, Central, and Eastern Africa), while climate change will mostly reduce potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Southern Europe and North Africa.

In summary, urban and peri-urban agriculture can contribute to improving urban food security, reducing GHG emissions, and adapting to climate change impacts ( ''robust evidence, medium agreement'' ).

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