Innovating to enable integrated services for innovation to promote urban and peri-urban agriculture

The United Nations envisions that, by 2050, almost 70 percent of the global growing population will be living in urban areas, especially in small cities and towns within Africa and Asia. This will mean more people to feed in these cities, as well as the risk of nutrition problems and increased levels of obesity associated with changes in diet and lifestyle. In this context, agriculture will need to produce more nutritious food while competing for ever scarcer natural resources and struggling with the effects of climate change. Furthermore, the world is facing recent critical events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the fuel crisis, both of which highlight the need for resilient agrifood systems in both urban and rural areas. As a result, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), practices that are centuries-old, are growing in importance as a means of helping to ensure the food security and livelihoods of urban dwellers. UPA can yield numerous benefits, but comes with challenges, as it is practised within the context of a high competition for natural resources, especially land. Furthermore, its practitioners – urban dwellers or migrants – often lack the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed. Given the growing importance of UPA, the integrated services for innovation (ISI) must adapt and be enabled to serve urban and peri-urban producers and other agrifood actors.