Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance

dc.contributor.advisorBattersby, Jane
dc.contributor.authorTrapani, Isabella
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-29T07:46:03Z
dc.date.available2021-07-29T07:46:03Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.date.updated2021-07-29T07:42:24Z
dc.description.abstractRapid population growth, rising urbanisation, globalisation and technological progress have fundamentally changed how we produce and consume food. The majority of urban diets are now dominated by low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of highly processed, energy-dense and nutritionally poor foods. In Cape Town, South Africa, the impacts of this nutritional transition manifest themselves not only with hunger and undernutrition but also with overnutrition. Due to structural barriers in cities limiting access to healthy food, the urban poor are disproportionally affected by nutrition-related diseases. In addition to the impacts on human health, modern dietary patterns and food production significantly contribute to climate change, land-use change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, all of which threaten food and nutrition security. Considering these severe impacts on planetary health, urgent action enabling access to sustainable and healthy diets becomes imperative on both global and local scales. Local governments are at the forefront of the urban food challenge and can intervene through urban food governance; however, in South Africa, the food mandate is held by the national and provincial governments. This study reveals the strategic role the City of Cape Town can play when leveraging its constitutional powers, especially through mainstreaming food considerations into all municipal policies and processes, sustainable and healthy public procurement, regulating the private sector and supporting informal trade, encouraging sustainable local small-scale production of healthy food and the establishment of food gardens, expanding the local market structure, as well as through providing nutrition education. This research finds that despite the absence of an urban food mandate, there is great momentum for food to become a priority in the City of Cape Town. Remaining institutional challenges such as the lack of understanding of food security and the food system, political will, funding, capacity, and policy coherence must be overcome to tackle the urban food challenge. Multi-stakeholder collaboration was identified as a key element of effective urban food governance and should therefore be strengthened.
dc.identifier.apacitationTrapani, I. (2021). <i>Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance</i>. (). ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationTrapani, Isabella. <i>"Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance."</i> ., ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationTrapani, I. 2021. Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance. . ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Master Thesis AU - Trapani, Isabella AB - Rapid population growth, rising urbanisation, globalisation and technological progress have fundamentally changed how we produce and consume food. The majority of urban diets are now dominated by low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of highly processed, energy-dense and nutritionally poor foods. In Cape Town, South Africa, the impacts of this nutritional transition manifest themselves not only with hunger and undernutrition but also with overnutrition. Due to structural barriers in cities limiting access to healthy food, the urban poor are disproportionally affected by nutrition-related diseases. In addition to the impacts on human health, modern dietary patterns and food production significantly contribute to climate change, land-use change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, all of which threaten food and nutrition security. Considering these severe impacts on planetary health, urgent action enabling access to sustainable and healthy diets becomes imperative on both global and local scales. Local governments are at the forefront of the urban food challenge and can intervene through urban food governance; however, in South Africa, the food mandate is held by the national and provincial governments. This study reveals the strategic role the City of Cape Town can play when leveraging its constitutional powers, especially through mainstreaming food considerations into all municipal policies and processes, sustainable and healthy public procurement, regulating the private sector and supporting informal trade, encouraging sustainable local small-scale production of healthy food and the establishment of food gardens, expanding the local market structure, as well as through providing nutrition education. This research finds that despite the absence of an urban food mandate, there is great momentum for food to become a priority in the City of Cape Town. Remaining institutional challenges such as the lack of understanding of food security and the food system, political will, funding, capacity, and policy coherence must be overcome to tackle the urban food challenge. Multi-stakeholder collaboration was identified as a key element of effective urban food governance and should therefore be strengthened. DA - 2021_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Environmental and Geographical Science LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2021 T1 - Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance TI - Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationTrapani I. Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance. []. ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2021 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Environmental and Geographical Science
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.subjectEnvironmental and Geographical Science
dc.titlePutting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMSc
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