As coordinator of the Food Smart Cities for Development project and hosting city of the 2015 Universal Exposition dedicated to the theme “Feeding the planet , energy for life” Milan had the great opportunity to foster the role of cities in shaping the future of food systems.
It did so by calling together urban areas from the north and the south of the world to promote the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), the first international pact on urban food policies.
All the city partners of Food Smart Cities for Development have been involved in the drafting process of the document which contain a Framework for action to guide municipalities in defining and implementing their food strategy. The MUFPP was signed on 15 October 2015 during an international conference at Palazzo Reale in Milan.
The Pact aims at empowering cities in designing a more sustainable future starting from food and it encourages the cooperation and the exchange of good practices among partners.
The City of Milan has been working for longtime on food security and urban agriculture through its projects of decentralized cooperation in cities such as Dakar, Nyamey and Maputo that have signed the MUFPP: a great opportunity to reinforce those ties.
Another important project stimulated by the participation in Food Smart Cities for Development is the drafting and adoption of the Milan Food Policy. It is a five years strategy that approaches food issues in a multidimensional integrated fashion setting five priorities and outlining a guidelines and actions.