BackgroundSecondary cities tend to be better linked with local food systems than primate cities, acting as important platforms to trade agricultural produce with rural surrounding. COVID-19, conflicts and climate change continue to expose inefficiencies in food systems and have further exacerbated malnutrition, calling for substantial food systems transformations. However, tackling current food systems' challenges requires new approaches to ensure food and nutrition security. Nutritious and agroecologically produced food offer the potential to transform food systems by improving diets and alleviating pressure on the environment, as well as by creating jobs and reducing poverty. This paper describes the design of a project by a Swiss public-private consortium to improve food and nutrition security and to reduce poverty in city ecosystems in six secondary cities in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda through governance/policy and supply and demand side interventions.MethodsThe Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project promotes well-balanced nutrition for city populations through interdisciplinary agricultural, food, and health sector collaborations along city-specific value chains. Adopting a transdiciplinary systems approach, the main interventions of NICE are (i) advocacy and policy dialogue, (ii) building of decentralized institutional capacity in multi-sectoral collaborations, (iii) support of data-driven planning, coordination and resource mobilization, (iv) anchoring of innovations and new approaches in city-level partnerships, (v) capacity building in the agricultural, retail, health and education sectors, as well as (vi) evidence generation from putting policies into practice at the local level. NICE is coordinated by in-country partners and local offices of the Swiss public-private consortium partners.DiscussionThe NICE project seeks to contribute to urban food system resilience and enhanced sustainable nutrition for city populations by (A) strengthening urban governance structures involving key stakeholders including women and youth, (B) generating income for producers along the supply chain, (C) triggering change in producers' and consumers' behavior such that nutritious and agroecologically produced foods are both in demand as well as available and affordable in urban markets, and (D) allowing a scale up of successful approaches to other national and international cities and city networks.
Objectives Secondary cities (SC) link rural food production with urban populations. SC are rapidly growing, lack of infrastructure and face changes in dietary patterns. Across women of reproductive age (WRA) all forms of malnutrition have been identified. SC offer an opportunity for food systems transformation. We argue to uncover the demand-related determinants of purchasing, preparing, consuming, and feeding practices among WRA with low socioeconomic status living SC in Rwanda to identify possible interventions to enhance the demand of agroecological produced food. Methods Thematic analysis is conducted among WRA with low socioeconomic status living in SC -Rubavu, and Rusizi- in Rwanda. Eighteen face-to-face, in-home observations were conducted in the manner of compact ethnographic research. These observations covered the participants’ way of living, home environment, shopping and cooking observation, a pantry/kitchen audit. Transcripts from the interviews are being coded with NVIVO software. Ethical consent was provided by the Rwanda National Ethics Committee. Results Preliminary findings show that most WRA involved in the interviews prepare two meals per day. The most commonly food items consumed are irish potatoes, bananas, rice, and flour, with women indicating little to no intention of trying out new dishes or new preparation type. The most common cooking method is boiling, salt and garlic being the primary spieces used. WRA do not consume special food items based on their current life stage (pregnancy or lactation). The household budget for purchasing food is provided and decided mainly by men; however, women make the purchase and cooking decisions. The purchase of foods is determined by price, owing to minimal purchase power. Health care professionals and social workers are the trusted source of information. Final results will be available by May 2022. Conclusions Our findings will help design a social marketing campaign to promote the purchasing, consumption, and cooking practices of locally produced agroecological foods that is specifically targeted to WRA of low socioeconomic status living in those SC. Funding Sources The NICE project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, ETH Zürich, Sight and Life, and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
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