Global change, urban livelihoods and food security; presentation

Abstract

Food security research and policy have focused more on the rural poor where the incidence and depth of poverty is more pronounced. Urban livelihoods are based on cash income and many people in urban areas are employed in the informal sector which is vulnerable to stresses such as climate change, as well as economic and political instability. Urban areas do not always provide the best of opportunities to everyone and some people are forced to engage in unsustainable coping activities. Urban authorities need to pay attention to the plight of the urban poor to help them cope and adapt to the pressures of global change.