Building a Climate-Resilient City: Agriculture and food security

This briefing from the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines strategies to build climate-resilient urban food systems, focusing on the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. It argues that strengthening local food production and diversifying supply chains can mitigate risks posed by extreme weather and global supply shocks.

• Alberta is projected to see significant temperature increases, potentially rising by 2.0°C by the 2030s and 4.0°C by the 2060s compared to the 1990s, if global greenhouse gas emissions remain unchanged. Precipitation is expected to increase overall, though it may decline during the summer.
• Climate change poses specific risks to food security in Calgary and Edmonton, including damage to transport infrastructure from extreme weather, reduced water availability for local food production due to drought, and increased energy demand for refrigeration during higher summer temperatures.
• Global food supply chains are vulnerable to climatic impacts in major growing regions, which can lead to higher grocery prices in Alberta. For instance, a four-year drought in California reduced yields and increased fruit and vegetable prices globally, and it is estimated that the global area suitable for coffee production could decrease by 50 per cent by 2050.
• To build robustness in urban food systems, cities should protect land for traditional agriculture through zoning bylaws and greenbelt zones, while adopting soil-free methods like aquaponics and vertical agriculture. Examples of zoning for small-scale production are cited in San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, and Philadelphia, while greenbelts are used in Toronto, Ottawa, Beijing, and London.
• Redundancy in food systems can be increased through municipal composting, which improves soil health and water retention, and by diversifying water sources and adopting smart irrigation. Additionally, providing back-up generators for food distribution centres and establishing public water fill-up stations can mitigate disruptions during power failures or natural disasters.
• Community resourcefulness can be fostered through urban agriculture models like SPIN agriculture, permaculture, and CSAs. In Edmonton, an urban hen keeping pilot project was launched in late 2014. Other strategies include supporting the 'cottage food industry' by reducing restrictions on home-based artisan food production and implementing food literacy programs through Community Food Centres.
• Vertical farming in Chicago, enabled by 2010 zoning amendments for 'Planned Manufacturing Districts', demonstrates the potential for high-efficiency production. Some facilities harvest up to 26 times a year using 85 per cent less energy and one tenth the water of conventional methods.

APA

Temmer, J. (2017). Building a Climate-Resilient City: Agriculture and food security. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-agriculture-food.pdf

Chicago

Temmer, Jennifer. Building a Climate-Resilient City: Agriculture and food security. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-agriculture-food.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{temmer2017building, author = {Temmer, Jennifer}, title = {{Building a Climate-Resilient City: Agriculture and food security}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-agriculture-food.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }