Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of reliable food systems that provide healthy and affordable diets to all.
That is true also in Asia where cities, large and small, contend with a wide range of food-related issues on a daily basis but often lack a dedicated or coherent set of food policies. Arguing that food systems are central to the topmost priorities of Asian cities, from nurturing jobs and businesses that are core to a city’s identity to managing waste and congestion, a new World Bank book calls for cities to “get smart to get RICH”—that is, to pursue policies that foster
reliable, inclusive, competitive, and healthy (“RICH”) food systems that are better aligned with cities’ contemporary challenges and aspirations.
“RICH Food, Smart City seeks to put food on the menu of urban decision-makers in Asia to generate positive feedback loops between healthy people, a healthy planet, and healthy economies,” said Martien van Nieuwkoop, Global Director of Agriculture and Food, World Bank.
Based on the first systematic survey of urban food policies in 170 Asian cities in 21 countries, undertaken in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the study finds that only 8% of surveyed cities are “food-smart” intervening in the food system in ways that are forward-looking, holistic, and inclusive.
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