AfricanCITYFOOD month 2021 Event Report
Every July, the annual #AfricanCITYFOODmonth campaign highlights diverse, innovative and evolving African urban food systems. The campaign provides a platform for insight, learning opportunities and support for local governments and food system stakeholders who are interested in shaping sustainable, nutritious and inclusive food systems.
Summary
The year 2021 was a significant year for food. It represented the commencement of
the decade of action towards the attainment of the SDGs and was a year in which significant
events and discourse around food systems were held. Notably, the UN Food Systems
Summit in September 2021, with the associated independent dialogues that fed into it, the
7th Global Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) in October 2021 and the
Nutrition for Growth summit held in December 2021, all represent touchpoints in a growing
awareness of, and interest in, food system transformation.
2021’s #AfricanCITYFOOMonth campaign built on the momentum around the UN Food
Systems Summit and reflected on the Independent Summit Dialogues process that ICLEI
Africa, FAO and partners conducted in 13 African cities under the FAO-ICLEI Partnership.
Building on this partnership, the #AfricanCITYFOODMonth 2021 campaign was
geared towards generating concrete actions from cities that would contribute to achieving
sustainable urban food systems in this ‘Decade of Action,’ as well as facilitating sharing
and co-learning through a city-to-city learning exchange. Following a successful inaugural
AfricanCITYFOODMonth campaign in July 2020, ICLEI Africa and partners came together
again to use this platform, throughout July 2021, to improve the understanding of urban
food systems concept, to build consensus around local food systems challenges and
opportunities in African cities, and to highlight the actions and processes that are key to
transforming urban food systems.
