Can Domestic Food Production Provide Future Urban Populations with Food and Nutrition Security?—Insights from Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda

Abstract

Population growth and urbanization increasingly put pressure on our planet’s availability of areas needed for food production. The dependencies on domestically produced food are increasingly judged favourable, following the consequences of the Ukrainian war, with escalating fuel and grain prices and less accessibilities to low-income groups. It is, however, unclear whether land is domestically available. Applying a food system approach, the main aim of this article is to investigate spatial foodsheds and theoretical self-sufficiency for food production needed to supply increasing future populations in a selection of cities, including estimates for Dhaka in Bangladesh, Nairobi in Kenya and Kampala in Uganda. The projected foodshed scenario areas for the years 2020 and 2050 are estimated for the production of three core products currently extensively produced and consumed in the three countries. They show that it is not possible to feed an ever-increasing urban population based on domestic production alone. International trade, new technological developments and new consumer demands for less area-intensive food production systems may give solutions to the immense challenge of feeding the world’s population with nutritious food in 2050. However, to ensure fair and inclusive transition pathways for low-income groups: (1) affordability and accessibility of trade opportunities, technologies and products, (2) a common vision aiming for the SDGs, including SDG2: Zero hunger and SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities as well as (3) best practices in co-creation and cooperation with the most vulnerable urban and rural populations, are highly needed.

The Relationship between Farmland Abandonment and Urbanization Processes: A Case Study in Four Chinese Urban Agglomerations

“…Furthermore, agricultural development may influence the process of urbanization. Some studies indicate that the effective supply of food constrains the rapid expansion of urban populations [13,14], and there is a correlation between the proportion of urban populations in different provinces and the per capita grain output in rural areas [15]. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the relationship between urbanization and farmland abandonment, as it informs the formulation of arable land management policies and urban sustainable development strategies.…”

Spatiotemporal Variation and Influencing Factors of Grain Yield in Major Grain-Producing Counties: A Comparative Study of Two Provinces from China

“…In the face of issues such as imbalanced grain supply and demand with the restricted trade and transportation, China's government has ensured national food security by increasing grain yields [14][15][16], safeguarding food consumption [17], expanding grain storage [18][19][20], and enhancing grain trade [21,22]. As a basis for national stability [23,24], this yield is positively influenced by various underlying driving factors, such as farmland quality [25,26], agricultural mechanization input [27,28], fertilizer and pesticide use [29,30], agricultural subsidies [31,32], and urbanization [33,34]. However, abnormal weather conditions such as droughts, floods, and hailstorms can bring many negative effects [35][36][37].…”