Metropolitan Food Security
Welcome to our website
Foundation Metropolitan Food Security (MFS) is essentially a thinktank that since 2012 has been calling attention to the future challenges, if not menace, of overpopulated and underfed mega-cities in the world. It occasionally generates publications and more regularly participates in seminars on the subject.
The connection challenge-content-response found its origin in the time of budgetary austerity. Partial retreat of development cooperation went accompanied by a call to the private sector to provide some relay by investment and trade activities. For potential private participants, in particular small and medium sized enterprise, the urban environment offers certain advantages and promises given the long term growth and corresponding needs that are to be expected.
MFS in partnership with its sister organization NAFTC volunteered to provide a platform for open cooperation to this end, in which enterprise and knowledge-partners could form coalitions (always open to newcomers) to address the challenges presented.
In this framework NAFTC and MFS have been organizing dedicated trade-missions to countries like Russia, Mongolia, India, Southern-Africa, the Middle East and China. The formula of combining trade-visits with targeted high-level seminars on the urban metabolism, present and future, has proved to be attractive.
Changes in the structure of government-support to trade promotion, however, also entailed consequences for the operations of MFS/NAFTC, later NAFTC Africa/ME.
Recently the successful practice was resumed on a modest scale with new business related visits:
May ’18 to
- Israel: Agritech/AgriVest, (orientation, fair-participation, matchmaking);
- Palestine Territories, meeting with prospective business partners;
- Egypt (seminar, match-making and project development).
October ’18 to
- Algiers in partnership with CAAN* (seminar, trade-fair participation)
The extensive network that Metropolitan Food Security maintained over the years, culminated in the publication “Feeding Tomorrow’s Cities 2.0” that saw the light in December ’18 (see publications).
Its analysis deals with the perspective of urban development and the food security consequences involved. Environmental impact and scarcities on the input side are logical parts of the equation. The edition (the 2nd) collects contributions from 16 scholars and eminent practitioners addressing the “challenges and chances” of urbanization. 62 companies and universities of practical science react and formulate in what respect their company or institution could contribute to solutions.
The foreword was kindly offered by the President of Wageningen University and Research and by the Mayor of Amsterdam.
The substantial-size book was presented on December 14 to the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Mrs. Sigrid Kaag. (see news). It has been made available to the most relevant of our Ministries, Institutions of Science and Business organizations (“Golden Triangle”). It will be sent to Embassies, Consulates-General and Business Support Offices (NBSO’s) where appropriate.
Some 40 Heads of Mission received a copy upon their request during the annual Ambassador’s Conference at The Hague (28 ja.n-2 feb. 2019)
