Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities

In response to changing urban food systems, short supply chains have been advocated to meet urban food needs while building more sustainable urban food systems. Despite an increasing interest in urban food supply and the flows of food from production to consumption, there is a lack of empirical stud...

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Main Authors: Karg, Hanna, Drechsel, Pay, Akoto-Danso, Edmund K., Glaser, Rüdiger, Nyarko, George, Buerkert, Andreas
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78482
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author Karg, Hanna
Drechsel, Pay
Akoto-Danso, Edmund K.
Glaser, Rüdiger
Nyarko, George
Buerkert, Andreas
author_browse Akoto-Danso, Edmund K.
Buerkert, Andreas
Drechsel, Pay
Glaser, Rüdiger
Karg, Hanna
Nyarko, George
author_facet Karg, Hanna
Drechsel, Pay
Akoto-Danso, Edmund K.
Glaser, Rüdiger
Nyarko, George
Buerkert, Andreas
author_sort Karg, Hanna
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In response to changing urban food systems, short supply chains have been advocated to meet urban food needs while building more sustainable urban food systems. Despite an increasing interest in urban food supply and the flows of food from production to consumption, there is a lack of empirical studies and methodologies which systematically analyse the actual proportion and nutritional significance of local and regional food supplied to urban markets. The aim of this empirical study therefore was to compare the geographical sources supplying food to the urban population (“foodsheds”) in Tamale, Ghana and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to record the supplied quantities and to assess the level of interaction between the sources and the respective city. The study was conducted over two years, covering the seasons of abundant and short supply, via traffic surveys on the access roads to the two cities, and in the Tamale markets, resulting altogether in more than 40,000 records of food flow. Results indicated that food sources were highly crop- and season-specific, ranging from one-dimensional to multi-dimensional foodsheds with diverse sources across seasons. Across the commodity-specific foodsheds, city region boundaries were established. Within the proposed city region a relatively large proportion of smallholders contributed to urban food supply, taking advantage of the proximity to urban markets. While food provided from within the city region offers certain place-based benefits, like the provision of fresh perishable crops, a larger geographical diversity of foodsheds appeared to enhance the resilience of urban food systems, such as against climate related production failures.
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spelling CGSpace784822025-02-24T06:54:18Z Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities Karg, Hanna Drechsel, Pay Akoto-Danso, Edmund K. Glaser, Rüdiger Nyarko, George Buerkert, Andreas urban food systems foodsheds city region food systems food flows urban food supply spatial analysis gis mapping climate change food chains food supply food consumption food habits food production urban environment urban population crops livestock vegetables leaf vegetables organic wastes In response to changing urban food systems, short supply chains have been advocated to meet urban food needs while building more sustainable urban food systems. Despite an increasing interest in urban food supply and the flows of food from production to consumption, there is a lack of empirical studies and methodologies which systematically analyse the actual proportion and nutritional significance of local and regional food supplied to urban markets. The aim of this empirical study therefore was to compare the geographical sources supplying food to the urban population (“foodsheds”) in Tamale, Ghana and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to record the supplied quantities and to assess the level of interaction between the sources and the respective city. The study was conducted over two years, covering the seasons of abundant and short supply, via traffic surveys on the access roads to the two cities, and in the Tamale markets, resulting altogether in more than 40,000 records of food flow. Results indicated that food sources were highly crop- and season-specific, ranging from one-dimensional to multi-dimensional foodsheds with diverse sources across seasons. Across the commodity-specific foodsheds, city region boundaries were established. Within the proposed city region a relatively large proportion of smallholders contributed to urban food supply, taking advantage of the proximity to urban markets. While food provided from within the city region offers certain place-based benefits, like the provision of fresh perishable crops, a larger geographical diversity of foodsheds appeared to enhance the resilience of urban food systems, such as against climate related production failures. 2016 2016-12-22T07:22:45Z 2016-12-22T07:22:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78482 en Open Access MDPI Karg, H., Drechsel, P., Akoto-Danso, E., Glaser, R., Nyarko, G., & Buerkert, A. (2016). Foodsheds and City Region Food Systems in Two West African Cities. Sustainability, 8(12), 1175. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8121175
spellingShingle urban food systems
foodsheds
city region food systems
food flows
urban food supply
spatial analysis
gis mapping
climate change
food chains
food supply
food consumption
food habits
food production
urban environment
urban population
crops
livestock
vegetables
leaf vegetables
organic wastes
Karg, Hanna
Drechsel, Pay
Akoto-Danso, Edmund K.
Glaser, Rüdiger
Nyarko, George
Buerkert, Andreas
Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title_full Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title_fullStr Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title_full_unstemmed Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title_short Foodsheds and city region food systems in two West African cities
title_sort foodsheds and city region food systems in two west african cities
topic urban food systems
foodsheds
city region food systems
food flows
urban food supply
spatial analysis
gis mapping
climate change
food chains
food supply
food consumption
food habits
food production
urban environment
urban population
crops
livestock
vegetables
leaf vegetables
organic wastes
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78482
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AT akotodansoedmundk foodshedsandcityregionfoodsystemsintwowestafricancities
AT glaserrudiger foodshedsandcityregionfoodsystemsintwowestafricancities
AT nyarkogeorge foodshedsandcityregionfoodsystemsintwowestafricancities
AT buerkertandreas foodshedsandcityregionfoodsystemsintwowestafricancities