Food for the cities - Emergencies and crisis in urban areas

Food for the cities - Emergencies and crisis in urban areas

Descripción

The human population is growing at an exponential rate in some African urban centres due to a large number of refugees and Internally Displaced Peoples(IDPs), fleeing violent conflict, poverty, drought and hunger. The rural population, drifting away from the land in search of safety and food security,increasingly challenges the capacity of cities’ infrastructure and economy to feed the fast growing population. Significantly, although most of these newly settled people are very young, they still mostly rely on agriculture to earn a living when settled in urban and peri-urban areas. The challenges to support the growing population are numerous and include providing a sufficient and balanced food diet, basic social services, a source of income, land andenergy. In many cases these challenges are further exacerbated by discrimination, disease, and lack of structural support.