THE recent Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador came up with the New Urban Agenda, a new international agreement recognizing urbanization as a key driver for sustainable development and hunger eradication.
We simply have to admit that despite our love for the farms, when taking a break, the urban sprawl will continue to grow and gobble the suburban farmlands.
Population is growing, work force tends to move toward urban centers where employment and livelihood opportunities are, that does not mean that because of urbanization, then the population must suffer the consequence of converting that farmland into yet another subdivision.
Executive Director of UN Habitat Joan Clos described the New Urban Agenda as "a vision for a better and greener urban future, where everyone has access to the benefits of urbanization".
It was agreed on that urban and rural planning must be integrated such that this fosters sustainable food production and reduce food wastes in cities.
Just a generation ago, most houses have cans of "Baguio oil" converted into flower pots, growing spring onions and from the cuttings of the spring onions and the seeds of the tomatoes bought from the market. That was just how it was before.
Now, even in urban settlement areas, you can hardly see this as the habit now is to just buy and dispose of. The practices of old near forgotten.
"The New Urban Agenda places food security and nutrition at the center of urban sustainable development," said FAO's Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Raúl Benítez, in a statement made during Habitat III.
"It is necessary to go beyond the traditional dichotomy between urban and rural areas. City dwellers cannot be considered as mere consumers and rural communities must not be seen exclusively as producers," Benítez said.
A lot can be learned from cities that have already engaged in food-related initiatives that include food charters, food policies, projects on school catering, urban gardening, food waste management, strengthening urban-rural linkages, and developing urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry, and green infrastructure.
Davao City is a highly urbanized city with a vast rural sprawl and a fast-growing urban population, we have the perfect platform to rev up that synergy between the rural and the urban and come up with a system that integrates both levels of development while ensuring a food security for both major sectors.
The challenge is there, will our city rise up to it?