Uccrn Education Climate change exacerbates risks such as mortality, disease, injury, and negative mental and physical health outcomes. Urban residents are particularly vulnerable, as climate-induced extreme events can disrupt food and water supplies. Built environments, including the presence or absence of green spaces, significantly affect how populations experience these impacts.
List of Contents
COVID-19 as a stress test for food systems
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted systemic weaknesses in food supply chains. Disruptions caused by transport breakdowns, labor shortages, and shifts in consumption patterns led to significant challenges in food availability, especially for the urban poor. Informal workers, already vulnerable due to precarious employment and lack of social protections, faced increased food insecurity. Studies, such as those by WIEGO, show how the informal sector was hit hardest in cities like Lima and across South Asia and Africa.
Government responses often leaned toward centralization, particularly in health and economic sectors. However, some areas saw decentralized responses, especially regarding containment and food distribution. These contrasting governance trends illustrate the importance of multilevel coordination in managing emergencies.
Throughout the pandemic, community groups played a central role in addressing food and health needs. In African cities like Lesotho, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, resident-led efforts installed hand-washing stations and organized local food access schemes. In Latin America, civil society organizations already engaged in housing, food security, and health advocacy intensified their efforts, providing essential services to marginalized communities.
Local food production, especially when embedded in urban agriculture and cooperative models, emerged as a vital strategy. These efforts helped maintain food access during supply chain disruptions and offer a promising direction for long-term resilience.
Women bore a disproportionate burden during the pandemic, balancing caregiving roles both at home and in health facilities. They also experienced higher rates of unemployment, domestic violence, and economic insecurity. However, women’s networks have emerged as powerful actors, organizing mutual support systems and community-based food production in cities such as Mexico City, Medellín and Porto Alegre.
Food system disruption during Covid-19
The pandemic has disrupted the entire food supply chain, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in food distribution. These businesses faced delays due to social distancing, reduced labor availability, stricter inspections, and higher costs. Sectors like farming and small-scale fisheries—often reliant on low-paid, seasonal, and migrant labor, particularly women—were hit hard, especially during peak seasons.
Labor shortages led to processing delays and food losses, while fear of shortages caused hoarding and panic buying. This contributed to a decline in diet quality, with increased consumption of cheap, calorie-dense, ultra-processed foods and a decrease in more nutritious items like fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat. Combined with reduced physical activity, this has worsened undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity, particularly among women and children.
Although staple crops (like rice, wheat, and maize) have remained relatively stable, labor-intensive and perishable foods (like fresh produce and animal products) have suffered. Market closures and restrictions, alongside income losses, created both supply and demand shocks, limiting food access and availability. Transportation issues further amplified losses of nutritious, perishable foods.
These disruptions highlight the urgent need to transform food systems to be more resilient, inclusive and nutrition-focused. How?
Strengthen food systems:
- invest in small and medium food businesses, especially those run by women, Indigenous groups, farmers, and fishers, with support for local, nutritious food production and distribution.
- Protect food workers with better labor policies, health programs and adaptable logistics to withstand future crises.
- Encourage shorter, diverse supply chains for perishable, nutrient-rich foods and maintain open trade for these items.
- Improve food safety and market monitoring to enable fast, informed decisions.
- Support local agriculture and fortified food production to reduce reliance on imports and ensure nutrient-dense staples.
- Promote healthy eating through education, labeling, and smart marketing.
Use social protection to increase access to nutritious foods:
- Design social safety nets (like cash or food vouchers) to encourage the purchase of healthy foods.
- Make these programs empower women by including training, financial support, and business opportunities.
Case Study: Ollas comunes in Lima
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and worsened the precarious living conditions of thousands in Lima, Peru. Many marginalised families were unable to follow lockdown protocols due to the need to work, lack of basic services, and inadequate housing. Urban inequalities meant poorer areas, especially on the peripheries, suffered higher infection and death rates. In crises like COVID-19, civil society, particularly women, often step up to provide care and support.
A clear example of grassroots action during the pandemic is the rise of Common Pots (Ollas Comunes, or OCs) community kitchens formed to fight hunger by sharing resources. By August 2021, Lima had over 2,700 OCs feeding around 250,000 families daily. These groups collaborated with NGOs, government agencies, and international organisations to form platforms like La Mesa, advocating for food security. However, while OCs empowered women and fostered community leadership, they also depended heavily on donations, echoing cycles of clientelism and limiting long-term sustainability.
Before OCs, community kitchens like Comedores Populares (CPs) had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s during economic and political crises. While they gained state recognition and became part of national food programs, they too relied on voluntary labour, often limiting women’s development and future leadership renewal. Today, CPs face aging leadership and reduced participation, while OCs are run by younger women, showing continuity but also facing similar challenges of sustainability and recognition.
OC infrastructure varies widely, often operating in informal or improvised spaces, especially in newly urbanised and underserved peripheries like San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL), Lima’s largest district. Here, limited public investment and steep terrain restrict access to services. In contrast, CPs usually operate in established neighborhoods with proper facilities. Despite this, younger populations in areas like José Carlos Mariátegui in SJL have organised effectively to demand services and rights. NGOs like CENCA have supported this mobilisation, especially during the pandemic, facilitating collaborations with academics and public institutions to improve OC infrastructure.
The experience of OCs highlights the need to move beyond short-term aid and clientelist approaches. Instead, a focus on capacity-building, recognition of care work, and investment in infrastructure is essential for long-term autonomy and resilience. By co-producing solutions tailored to local contexts, OCs can become platforms for urban equality and sustained mutual support.
Urban agriculture in walkable neighborhoods in Tokyo
Urban agriculture is gaining attention globally as a response to food insecurity, climate change, and urban health challenges. It offers multiple benefits, including improved food access, environmental sustainability, physical and mental health, and stronger community ties. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of local food systems and walkable neighborhoods, where basic needs—like access to fresh food—are met within short distances.
In Tokyo, where urban farming is common even in dense neighborhoods, researchers studied how access to local food sources (like allotment farms, home gardens, and farm stands) affected people’s well-being, physical activity, and food security. They found that those with access to these local sources reported better well-being, higher physical activity, and less anxiety about food availability, especially during the pandemic.
Compared to other green spaces and food retailers, allotment farms and farm stands were strongly associated with positive outcomes. People who benefited most tended to work from home and not live alone. The study concludes that integrating urban agriculture into neighborhood planning can improve urban resilience and public health.
These findings align with a growing body of research emphasizing the role of hyperlocal food systems in building sustainable and equitable cities. Beyond Tokyo, cities worldwide are exploring ways to incorporate edible landscapes, rooftop farms, and community gardens into their urban fabric. Doing so not only addresses environmental and nutritional concerns but also fosters stronger social cohesion and supports mental well-being in rapidly urbanizing environments.
References
Coordinating Lead Authors
- Darshini Mahadevia, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad
- Gian C. Delgado Ramos, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City
Lead Authors
- Janice Barnes, Climate Adaptation Partners and the University of Pennsylvania, New York/Philadelphia
- Joan Fitzgerald, Northeastern University, Boston
- Miho Kamei, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama
- Kevin Lanza, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Austin
Contributing/Case Study Authors
- Zaheer Allam, University of Paris, Paris
- Amita Bhide, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Yakubu Bununu, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
- Didier Chabaud, University of Paris, Paris
- Amitkumar Dubey, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad
- Yann Francoise, Climate and Ecological Transition Directorate at Paris City, Paris
- Saumya Lathia, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedebad
- María Fernanda Mac Gregor-Gaona, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City
- Carlos Moreno, Paris 1 Sorbonne University, Tunja/Paris
- Marie-Christine Therrien, Ecole Nationale d’Administration Publique – Cité-ID LivingLab Urban Resilience Governance, Montreal
- Nada Toueir, Lincoln University, Montreal
- Nelzair Vianna, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Salvador
Element Scientist
- Melissa López Portillo-Purata, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City
COVID-19 as a stress test for food systems
- Carducci, B., Keats, E.C., Ruel, M. et al. Food systems, diets and nutrition in the wake of COVID-19. Nat Food 2, 68–70 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00233-9
- Desmaison, B., Jaime, K., Córdova, P., Alarcón, L., & Gallardo, L. (2022). Collective Infrastructures of Care: Ollas Comunes Defying Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Urbanisation, 7(1), 46-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/24557471221110951 (Original work published 2022)
- Tayal, S., & Singh, S. (2021). Covid-19 and opportunity for integrated management of water–energy–food resources for urban consumption. In A. L. Ramanathan, C. Sabarathinam, F. Arriola, M. V. Prasanna, P. Kumar & M. P. Jonathan (Eds.), Environmental Resilience and Transformation in Times of COVID-19 (pp. 135–142). Elsevier. https://bit.ly/3zh7aKI.
Food system disruption during Covid-19
- Niles, M.T., Wirkkala, K.B., Belarmino, E.H. et al. Home food procurement impacts food security and diet quality during COVID-19. BMC Public Health 21, 945 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10960-0
- Pulighe, G.; Lupia, F. Food First: COVID-19 Outbreak and Cities Lockdown a Booster for a Wider Vision on Urban Agriculture. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5012. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125012
Case Study: Ollas comunes in Lima
- Desmaison, B., Jaime, K., Córdova, P., Alarcón, L., & Gallardo, L. (2022). Collective Infrastructures of Care: Ollas Comunes Defying Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Urbanisation, 7(1), 46-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/24557471221110951 (Original work published 2022)
Urban agriculture in walkable neighborhoods in Tokyo
- Iida, A., Yamazaki, T., Hino, K. et al. Urban agriculture in walkable neighborhoods bore fruit for health and food system resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. npj Urban Sustain 3, 4 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-023-00083-3
