On Wednesday 5 June 2019, Nyasha Magadzire presented a talk under the theme “Feeding our future cities” at the GBCSA (Green Building Council of South Africa) Cape Town offices. The GBCSA is involved in the development and adoption of best green building practices so that all buildings are designed, built and operated in an environmentally sustainable way. In line with the mandate of the GBCSA, Nyasha`s talk focussed on how future cities could be designed to meet the nutritional and dietary needs of urban populations in a more sustainable manner.

Nyasha Magadzire talked about feeding our future cities

Some of the key interventions highlighted included:

  1. Adopting innovations and technologies that require less area to sustain city food needs and reclaiming previously farmed land for biodiversity conservation.
  2. Producing food within cities.
  3. Even distribution of healthy nutritious food across the city.
  4. Donating surplus food to charities, feeding programs, etc

Follow up discussions between Nyasha and the audience centred around difficulties in gaining the necessary institutional support from government for a more food sensitive urban design. Other discussions included the role of big retailers and urban agriculture in improving access to nutritious food in the city.