On May 25 and July 13, 2022, participants of the 1st edition of the Laboratório Urbano de Políticas Públicas Alimentares (Urban Laboratory of Public Food Policies) – LUPPA met to identify common issues for the development of municipal food policies, seeking to reflect on how to influence the 2022 international agenda (8th Global Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact​ and COP 27 in Egypt) ​​and the agenda of the state and federal terms of office beginning in January 2023. Participants discussed the common challenges, demands and opportunities for collaboration between municipalities and the state and federal governments, and the international community. The LUPPA Community understands that it is essential for coordination among the various levels of government and government agencies to help municipalities identify groups in situations of vulnerability and food and nutrition insecurity, thus making it possible to assess locally the impacts of the phenomenon of food insecurity and to inform the preparation of strategic municipal action plans. * * * To strengthen relations and mutual collaboration among municipalities, states and the Federal Government, the following points were identified as the most urgent and relevant, which we highlight below:

1. The importance of creating and strengthening municipal and state legal frameworks, in addition​ to strengthening the National Food and Nutrition Security System (SISAN).

To guarantee food and nutrition security and the full exercise of the fundamental right to food throughout the national territory, it is essential to consolidate and ensure the continuity of “state policies” that provide for financing and monitoring mechanisms for social programs and other programs aimed at strengthening the food systems agenda, and that provide for governance mechanisms that promote both intersectorality within municipal management and public participation, as well as coordination between spheres of government and branches of power. A consolidated and operational national system, such as the Sistema Único de Saúde (Unified Health System), could guarantee: mandatory transfers of funds; opportunities for training local teams; networked coordination; and the sharing of data, knowledge and experiences. In this regard, the importance of reactivating the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security to support the coordination of these initiatives was emphasized. To boost the transition from linear to circular food systems, the need to use the power of sustainable public procurement to drive healthy consumption and production patterns was highlighted.

2. Coordinated action to guarantee water security​.

Among the demands shared by municipalities, states and the Federal Government, guaranteeing water security is an example of action that necessarily takes place collectively across spheres of government, such as rainwater harvesting projects, water reuse, and the construction of wells and small dams​.

3. Coordinated action to guarantee ​​technical assistance for sustainable production at the local level.

As a driver of sustainable local development, public investment in training and knowledge transfer to family farmers on sustainable practices and agroecology, as well as incentives for the agroecological transition, are actions that can be boosted by state and federal governments, whether through their direct or indirect administrations or through legal measures that encourage this transition, supporting the actions of municipal management.

4. Prioritization and maintenance of federal and state public policies that have a direct impact on fighting poverty and​ ​hunger, such as public food procurement policies – for example, the Programa Alimenta Brasil, formerly called the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (Food Acquisition Program) – and the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar​ (PNAE – National School Feeding Program).​

For state and federal policies that are strategic for the population’s food and nutrition security to remain effective, the amounts transferred must be constantly updated, both to encourage and guarantee local food production and to fund school meals, with the consequent review and adjustment of the per capita amount per student transferred under the PNAE. Considering the difficulty of fostering production by small-scale food producers, priority should be given to multi-level strategies that coordinate branches of power and levels of government, supporting municipal administrations in securing resources to foster sustainable local food production through the potential of public food procurement.

5. Jointly addressing the challenge of migration from ​”​the countryside to the ci​ty” and the abandonment of farming, through income-generation strategies for family farmers and incentives for food production by young people, such as encouraging organic or agroecology-based production and efforts to map agroecological production and family farming.​

Mapping and knowing the types of agriculture in each territory, whether rural agriculture or urban and peri-urban agriculture, as well as the production models adopted, are extremely important instruments for the design and implementation of municipal food policies, for supporting actions to improve production practices and encourage the agroecological transition, and for actions on market access and shortening supply chains. Urban agriculture is a relevant strategy for the resilience of food access, especially in times of crisis, and fully fostering it goes beyond the capacities of municipal administrations. * * * Regarding the international sphere, the collective discussion identified actions that can promote the implementation of the​ ​global agenda in municipalities,​ ​from the perspective of sustainable food production and consumption and expanding access to healthy food at the local level​. Considering that international meetings and platforms are able to portray the global food production process, including pointing out the relationship between local food systems and the climate emergency, LUPPA participants outlined possible opportunities for action to leverage the centrality of cities and local actions in the international climate and food systems agenda:

1. International organizations play an important role in strengthening local networks, which in turn make it easier for cities to access more resources. International organizations can increase the visibility of cities’ actions, support the dissemination of information, and the sharing of information on local experiences in sustainable food systems, while taking into account regional differences and socioeconomic inequalities between countries, especially the historical complexities of production models in the Global South. They can also directly provide cities with specialized technical support, such as services and studies tailored to the reality and demands of each city.
2. Local issues that have become global: a) documents such as the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – ​​IPCC – point to urban agriculture as a resilience tool that helps minimize the effects of the climate crisis, proposing a paradigm shift in cities and strengthening food production through short supply chains as a fundamental food and nutrition security strategy; b) school meals are likewise recognized as one of the strategic themes in international debates on food systems and public policies for food and nutrition security.
3. It is essential that the agenda of healthy food and sustainable food production be a mandatory criterion for non-reimbursable funds, financing and other types of projects related to urban development and to infrastructure for tackling the climate crisis in cities.
4. The importance of more international investment in creating cooperation programs between cities, focused on strengthening projects for training technical staff and public agents, environmental education, food education and other types of actions that directly support municipalities’ local projects.
5. International investments should encourage local governments to adopt public procurement of local and sustainably produced food,​ and foster street markets and public markets to expand the population’s access to this food.
6. The international community has the capacity to encourage, pressure and leverage the resumption of financing. International and national movements help strengthen these demands and keep a watchful eye on local needs.
7. The importance of materials produced by international agencies and organizations actually reaching the officials and public agents working on the ground. Translating these materials into Portuguese is essential so that Brazilian cities and local governments can make use of this internationally generated knowledge.

Click here to download the position paper.