Why food, agriculture and nutrition should be integrated in urban planning

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Akinwumi Adesina recalled how the African Development Bank's 2023 Dakar 2 Food Summit ignited commitment across Africa for country-specific food and agriculture compacts. The summit, co-hosted by the government of Senegal and the African Union, was attended by 34 African Heads of State and Government. It has mobilized more than $72 billion to date.

Why food, agriculture and nutrition should be integrated in urban planning

 Policy and Legislation
 August 29, 2026

The 2024 Borlaug Dialogue, hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation, gathers experts worldwide to inspire innovative solutions to global hunger. With this year's theme, "Seeds of Opportunity, Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy," the event champions collaboration, legacy, and hope in the fight for food security. There is an urgent need for better urban governance around food, nutrition and health.

An additional 2.5 billion people in Africa and Asia will live in urban areas by 2050 when 66% of the world’s population shall be urban and malnutrition shall become a crisis, especially in low and middle-income countries where urban dwellers do not consume enough basic calories, lack sufficient micronutrients or suffer from being overweight or obese with associated diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank and Ajay Banga, his counterpart at the World Bank, have stressed the need for more global action against hunger, a goal slipping further away due to the combined effects of conflict, economic challenges and climate change. The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition calls for the integration of food, agriculture and nutrition into urban planning alongside health, sanitation, water and infrastructure development.

In a report titled ‘Urban Diets and Nutrition: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities for Policy Action”, the panel pays special attention to what they describe as the growing threat of diet-related non-communicable disease.

The food experts argue that greater wealth in urban centres, relative to rural areas, does not necessarily lead to healthier diets, with excessive consumption of highly processed foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients.