FAO plans to turn 6 African cities into green metros

On June 21, 2021, FAO* launched the Green Cities Regional Action Programme for Africa.
The programme will use innovative solutions and turn cities to become more sustainable, more resilient and will provide access to healthy foods and ensure a better life for everyone. Six large, medium and small African cities were selected to run the first phase of the programme

These cities are:

Praia in Cabo Verde
Kisumu and Nairobi in Kenya
Antananarivo in Madagascar
Quelimane in Mozambique
Kigali in Rwanda

Phase one includes promoting local food production and short supply chains, establish green agro-processing hubs. It will create good natural environments, more integrated nutritious food production-and-distribution systems that help the residents and farmers. FAO will help the local administrations to set up rooftop and backyard gardens, vertical farms in abandoned structures and high-tech aquaculture. Other initiatives like parks, water management, cleaner air, food waste reduction are also planned. Around 55% of the world's population lives in cities today, and that is expected to rise to 68 % by 2050. Most of these populations are in low-income countries, especially in Africa and Asia. Even though cities provide economic opportunities, they have poverty, high natural resource use, GHG emissions and food consumption. With the right policies and innovative solutions, local administrations can improve the well-being of the people in these cities.