Rural-urban nexus: establishing a nutrient loop to improve city region food system resilience (RUNRES) To create a circular flow of commodities across the urban-rural nexus has the potential to improve the resilience and sustainability of regional food systems
The initial phase of RUNRES will focus on the establishment of a vibrant and inclusive transdisciplinary innovation platform (tdIPs) in each of the city region food systems. This will entail the identification and inclusion of key stakeholders, the identification and testing of selected innovations, and the acquisition of a comprehensive baseline understanding of the biophysical and socio-economic circumstances for each city region.
Unprecedented rural to urban migration is placing enormous burdens on city areas across Africa. As a consequence, informal settlements are growing rapidly. The lack of appropriate sanitation, combined with high population densities, creates an environment suited to the outbreak of various waterborne diseases. Furthermore, rates of food insecurity in these settlements are amongst the worst on the continent. Together these development challenges account for the urban poor being amongst the most vulnerable populations in the world. Thus, efforts that seek to improve livelihoods across the rural-urban nexus are critical to socially equitable and ecologically sustainable development in Africa.
Mission
RUNRES seeks to address the development challenges of sanitation and food insecurity by - identifying - testing - and installing innovations (related to waste-recycling and small-scale processing) to improve resilience and sustainability of regional food systems. These innovations will be implemented through a transdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder development process.Approach
The African city regions targeted are: Arba Minch, Ethiopia Kigali, Rwanda Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo Msunduzi, South AfricaVideo(s)
The RUNRES project: Establishing a nutrient loop to improve city region food system resilience
Further comments
added by Elisabeth von Muench on 30 Oct 2019Information on website of South African partner
Answer questions about the project
Johan Six
johan.six@usys.ethz.ch
Filter / Tags
Food security and productive sanitationSpecific to one or several countriesResource recovery Composting, vermicomposting (solid waste), composting toiletsUrine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs) OtherSwiss governmentFaeces or faecal sludgeGreywater or wastewaterUrineRuralFertiliserUniversity, education or research institution
Related Countries
Congo the Democratic Republic of theEthiopiaRwandaSouth Africa
Project location
