A recently released policy brief from RUAF and Aeres University of Applied Sciences Almere, developed under the EU-funded EFUA (European Forum for Urban Agriculture) project, is making waves across the urban agriculture community. Titled “Enhancing international cooperation and development through Urban Agriculture (UA)”, the brief calls for stronger international collaboration to realise the full potential of Urban Agriculture (UA). The barriers and opportunities outlined in the brief resonate strongly with the themes and challenges we see in European cities. The recommendations for enhanced coordination, data sharing, education, and funding have clear relevance to our work and objectives (Photo credits: Freepik).
Despite UA’s wide-ranging benefits, which span food security, climate resilience, and urban wellbeing, the brief postulates that UA still remains globally underdeveloped due to eight persistent barriers:
• Policy and regulatory constraints,
• Lack of high-quality data,
• Inadequate global financial support,
• Limited educational opportunities,
• Knowledge and technology gaps,
• Infrastructure limitations,
• Low public awareness and engagement,
• Under-recognition of UA’s role for vulnerable communities.
Practical solutions to overcome the barriers
To move beyond these limitations, the brief proposes six practical mechanisms:
• Creating a global observatory of UA practices and policies,
• Strengthening Global South and North academic cooperation,
• Investing in public awareness and education,
• Launching cross-regional UA pilot projects,
• Sharing of innovation(s) and research and development,
• Engaging private sector finance and partnerships.
Each mechanism in the brief is paired with the barriers it addresses, an explanation of how it works, and a real-world case study, showcasing either direct application or a comparable best practice.
For example, barrier 3, “Inadequate global financial support”, can be tackled through mechanism 6, “Engaging private sector finance and partnerships”, which includes several actions such as private companies partnering with multilateral development banks to establish a digital platform connecting leading financial institutions, corporate leaders, and government partners to accelerate urban agriculture financing.
Elements of these mechanisms align with FOODCITYBOOST’s ambition to support more integrated and evidence-based urban agriculture strategies in Europe. By drawing attention to these global insights, we can better inform local policies and practices and strengthen links between EU cities and the international UA community.
