Recognizing that the informal sector is a crucial part of the solution, but is largely absent from planning and governance processes, TMG's Urban Food Futures programme works with diverse actors in three African cities (Nairobi, Cape Town and Ouagadougou) to co-design and implement contextualized solutions to food security and other pressing challenges in informal and low-income urban settings.

Our recently concluded one-year scoping phase sought to understand how the Covid-19, food price, climate and other crises are impacting low-income urban communities and how coping strategies are emerging and taking further shape. Building on insights from the transdisciplinary study, TMG and partners from the three cities will convene a virtual side event at this year's African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD-9). With speakers drawn from urban research, municipal administrators, informal sector support organizations and advocacy networks, the session aims to provide policy-relevant insights on:

• How to design food-sensitive urban planning approaches that “valorize” solutions from small-scale traders, urban food producers and other informal actors;

• How to build genuinely representative urban governance processes by linking urban planners, policy makers, activists and researchers with informal sector actors;

• How to strengthen accountability of power holders to low-income communities and hence boost their visibility and relevance in urban governance processes. 

The side event will contribute to discussions at ARFSD-9, which explores the theme: Accelerating the inclusive and green recovery from multiple crises and the integrated and full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063. As Africa's preparatory event for the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) the Forum will address the five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under review this year, among them SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), which is the focus of this side event.