2021

In 2021, despite significant challenges presented by the ongoing global pandemic, the diverse and dedicated collection of community members, municipal leaders, and researchers that are the ‘The rural-​urban nexus: Establishing a nutrient loop to improve city region food system resilience’ (RUNRES) project have continued their efforts to improve the resilience of city region food systems in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, Kamonyi, Rwanda, Bukavu, DRC, and Msunduzi, South Africa. This project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), seeks to enhance resilience by capturing and processing sources of local organic waste into sustainably produced organic fertilizers. Across every part of the food value chains in these four city regions, the RUNRES team, informed and guided by a transdisciplinary process that prioritizes community input and co-​knowledge production, has invested in innovations that have the potential to improve environmental and human health while also providing new economic and livelihood opportunities. Although the project has faced setbacks and challenges, in every city region the selected innovations are moving forward and beginning to show the potential of this alternative approach to city-​region resource flows.