‘Urban Malnutrition’ is the special theme of this year’sreport. Experience across the world has shown thatwhile urbanization promotes social and economicadvancement, and improves quality of life, poorlyplanned and managed urbanization can also havesevere negative consequences for food security andnutrition. This report synthesizes our understanding ofurban food environments, which, due to their heavierreliance on markets, complex logistics and distributionsystems, and heterogeneous and mobile populations,require more nuanced and carefully articulatedresponses. Local city and municipal governmentsmust play a central role in improving urban foodsystems by providing essential urban infrastructure,improving food systems, and promoting targetedinterventions. Food, nutrition and health-relatedagencies need to join hands with them instrengthening their technical capacity in these areas.
