The pandemic has also brought urban food systems into sharp focus as well as pandemic-related challenges to managing public transport in our spatially unequal cities. More positively, it has afforded us an opportunity to think differently about our cities and towns and planning for their future resilience, spotlighting solutions that can support an equitable and green recovery.

This report focuses on the sphere of local government, which in South Africa has no discrete formal mandate to address food-security issues. It is a first attempt to assist local governments in developing a coordinated and equitable approach to optimising food systems, by providing a snapshot of the difficulties that come with this “absent policy mandate” for urban responses towards the current and future impacts of global climate change on our urban food systems.

The report also sketches the impact of Covid-19 on urban food systems, zones in on issues of equity in a climate-compromised world, highlights the features of the urban geography, food-system governance, and the importance of municipal mandates. It concludes with a set of recommendations for consideration within local governments and broader policy change.