Markets are living systems that sustain communities, economies, and ecosystems, restoring dignity and voice to farmers, strengthening local economies and nutrition, and serving as powerful levers for equitable and resilient urban food systems. 

During the MUFPP Global Forum 2025 session Local markets – Transforming Urban Food Systems Through Food Markets (October 15), promoted by the World Farmers Markets Coalition – WFMC in collaboration with GAIN, ICLEI and CGIAR, representatives from the cities of Nairobi, Bogotá, Bogor, and Jangseong highlighted how food markets are not just commercial spaces — they are vital, community-based institutions that can drive innovation, inclusivity, and transformation in urban food systems when properly supported and invested in. 

By connecting urban consumers and producers through short supply chains, markets offer an inclusive alternative to industrial food systems that often marginalize producers, MSMEs, wholesalers, and market vendors, while shaping consumers’ food access. 

Initial Interventions – Organizational Perspectives

The first part of the session, with contributions from the promoting organisations, highlighted both the global diversity of markets and the common trends that link them.

In his opening remarks, WFMC President Richard McCarthy, host of the panel, highlighted that, unlike supermarkets, markets are designed for pluralism and interaction—spaces where producers and consumers engage in multiple, diverse exchanges that foster learning, connection, and social cohesion. McCarthy emphasized that markets are institutions that are often overlooked, but require public investment, governance, and civic recognition to function as clean, dignified, and transformative infrastructure.

Dennis Andaye, founder of the Nairobi Farmers Market, shared his motivation to create a farmers-led market model after a personal health challenge revealed the lack of access to nutritious food. In Kenya, traditional markets are often dominated by traders, and farming is stigmatized as low-status work. His market reverses this trend by restoring dignity, autonomy, and fair returns to farmers, allowing them to set prices, interact directly with consumers, and sell diverse, naturally grown produce. He stressed the need for clear definitions, municipal recognition, and supportive policies to scale such models sustainably. 

Jiwon Lee, Acting Head of Global Projects at the ICLEI World Secretariat, presented the City Food Market Handbook, through which ICLEI compiled 31 case studies from cities around the world. The handbook organizes these examples around four pillars: governance and policy, market infrastructure, financing and incentives, and capacity building and awareness-raising. The cases demonstrate how targeted interventions—ranging from “15-minute city” urban planning, to storage infrastructure, to direct support for small-scale farmers—can reduce food waste, increase incomes, and strengthen equitable access to food.

Ann Trevenen-Jones, Lead Food Systems Governance at GAIN, highlighted the strategic role of urban markets in improving nutrition, resilience, and economic development. She emphasized the rise of all forms of malnutrition and the widespread inability to afford a healthy diet. She showed how markets become spaces where public policies shape daily life. GAIN works mainly with city governments, leveraging urban planning, basic services, and food safety to activate multiple market levers simultaneously. Field experiences show that simple, locally owned, and climate-smart solutions, combined with strong governance and trust, can enhance resilience, improve services, and increase nutritional quality while reducing food losses.

Etienne Claereboudt of CGIAR showcased the Vendor Business School, an initiative operating in Nairobi (Kenya) and Manila (Philippines) that builds the business and food safety capacities of informal vendors. The programme helps vendors increase income and provide safer, more nutritious foods. From the consumer perspective, CGIAR supports local enterprises to improve traditional foods without raising costs—such as fortifying Kenya’s mandazi with vitamin A-rich sweet potato flour. Similar approaches are being scaled in Peru, where unsold produce is redirected to food banks and community kitchens, reducing waste while enhancing food access. 

Interactive Round Table – Dialogue with the Cities

In the second part of the session, the floor was given to the cities for a roundtable to share and compare their practical experiences.

Yurani Andrea Lopez Colmenares, Director of the Bogotá Farmers Market, Colombia, shared the experience of the Slow Food Bogotá market as a civic and community space. Operating every Sunday, the market involves around 40 peri-urban farming families, who also take part in its governance, fostering a model grounded in relationships, trust, and mutual growth between producers and consumers. In a complex and often intimidating city like Bogotá, the market provides farmers with a welcoming and safe environment, facilitating their entry into urban spaces and giving a human face to food.

Dedie Rachim, Mayor of Bogor, Indonesia, highlighted the city’s approach to inclusive food governance and street markets. He emphasized the importance of structured dialogue with street vendors, organizing them into cooperatives, mapping and regulating their selling spaces, and recognizing markets as an integral part of urban life. Despite challenges related to public order and tourism, this approach strengthens the role of markets in supporting local livelihoods and fostering a more inclusive urban food system.

Choi Mi-Kyung, Food Policy Team Lead for the City of Jangseong, South Korea, presented the county’s experience in creating and managing a network of direct-sale stores for local agricultural products. The model is based on a short supply chain that connects producers directly with consumers, with approximately 90% of sales revenue returning to farmers, drastically reducing intermediary costs and ensuring more stable incomes. In just a few years, the system has expanded its market reach to the metropolitan area of Gwangju, generating an annual economic circuit of around 10 billion won. The project particularly strengthens small family farms, providing support and training across the entire value chain—from production and processing to distribution and sales—while a public Food Support Center reduces farmers’ logistical and commercial burdens. Additionally, the initiative has had a significant social impact, creating over 700 jobs.

Markets as Civic and Transformative Infrastructure

Panelists agreed that markets are extremely complex three-dimensional systems—balancing farmers’ interests, municipal priorities, and consumer needs.

While informal vendors often operate outside formal systems, the discussion emphasized that inclusive engagement and gradual formalization benefit both vendors and cities, generating social and fiscal returns. Data, research, and awareness are essential to help policymakers understand the nutritional, economic, and environmental value of local markets. 

As cities worldwide confront challenges of food insecurity, inequality, and climate change, strengthening markets as community-centered infrastructure offers a tangible path toward healthy, fair, and resilient urban food systems. 

Special thanks to Sofia Cesarano, Mufpp Intern from the University of Milan, for writing this article.