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Urban-Rural Food Systems Linkages and Transformation
1. Urban Food Systems and
Urban-Rural Linkages
Olivier Ecker and James Thurlow
IFPRI Policy Seminar “Urban Food Systems for Better Diets, Nutrition, and Health”
IFPRI, Washington DC | 17 May 2019
2. Most rural people today live close to cities
30%
14%
30%
30%
37%
28%
19%
22%
22%
28%
20%
14%
34%
22%
38%
35%
35%
38%
44%
35%
36%
10%
29%
6%
12%
6%
3%
23%
Global population
Low income
Lower-middle income
Upper-middle
High income
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Larger cities (>500,000) Smaller cities (50,000-500,000)
Peri-urban (<1 hour to city) Remote rural (>1 hour to city)
Global population distribution in 2015
Source: Cattaneo et al. 2019
Urban agglomerations Rural areas
3. Much of the food system lies beyond the farm
11.7%
41.7%
28.0% 29.1%
37.9%
21.1%
30.1% 25.5%
13.7% 13.4%
29.1%
17.5%
27.2%
57.8%
40.9%
49.2% 47.7%
36.0%
39.9% 40.4%
26.4%
32.0%
49.2%
30.3%
Egypt Ethiopia Mozambique Malawi Niger Nigeria Rwanda Uganda Bangladesh Indonesia Myanmar Vietnam
AFRICA ASIA
Downstream AFS is a large part of the economy (GDP)
AFS lengthens as countries develop
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
$0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000
DownstreamshareofAFS
GNI per capita
Farmers
Processors
Aggregators
Traders
Consumers
Exporters
Food Services
Input
suppliers
Agri-Food System (AFS)
Source: Thurlow et al. 2019
4. Urban growth is transforming food systems
Urban share of food product consumption in 2010
Sub-Saharan Africa
36%
45%
36%
55%
55%
42%
62%
58%
44%
Population
All foods
Cereals, pasta
Dairy, milk
Meat, fish
Fruits, vegetables
Food services
Beverages
Other foods
South Asia
31%
37%
32%
40%
40%
39%
50%
42%
38%
Population
All foods
Cereals, pasta
Dairy, milk
Meat, fish
Fruits, vegetables
Food services
Beverages
Other foods
Source: World Bank Global Consumption Database
5. Urban economies cannot develop alone
Findings from our African case studies
• Without supporting investments, many African cities
struggle to absorb rural migrants, leading to an
urbanization of poverty
• When urban investments displace investments in
rural agriculture it leads to higher poverty, even in
urban areas
• Investments in small towns are key (higher poverty
rates; stronger linkages to rural/peri-urban
agriculture)
Source: e.g., Dorosh & Thurlow 2014; Thurlow et al. 2016
6. Our Approach
Consumer
Demand
1
Food Demand-
Supply Linkages
2
Urban-Rural
Transformation
3
Policy
Coordination
4Food
System
Dynamics
Study determinants of consumer
choices, and identify pathways to
better diets for urban poor
Evaluate
interventions to
enhance value
chains of nutritious
foods for urban
poor
Economywide analysis of policies and
investments to promote heathy food
systems and economic transformation
Support
ministries and
municipalities in
designing policies
and development
plans