Each October, the global community focuses on the challenges facing rapidly growing cities and towns, starting with World Habitat Day early in the month and ending with World Cities Day. This year, the themes of “Urban October” were the subject of a side event at the 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on October 23 in Rome, cohosted by IFPRI and the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations, along with many other global and national partner organizations.
The event explored how cities can lead the transformation of food systems in an era of climate change and multiple crises. Building on the findings of High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) Reports 19 on Strengthening Urban and Peri-urban Food Systems to Achieve Food Security and Nutrition, and HLPE Report 20 on Building Resilient Food Systems, the session highlighted innovative, multi-level governance approaches that link national policies with local action.