ACUTE FOOD INSECURITY IN MEGA-CITIES: ISSUES AND ASSISTANCE OPTIONS

This paper focuses on acute food insecurity as a contributing factor to disasters in mega-cities, cities of more than one million inhabitants (Mitchell:14). The case is presented that food insecurity can be a significant risk for some mega-cities, that this risk can transition to a state of disaster due to natural or political conditions, but that food insecurity is not usually considered as a cause or consequence of disasters in mega-cities, and that mechanisms for responding to food disasters in mega-cites are not well developed. The paper also reviews how the nature of a megacity impacts the assessment of food security conditions and the provision of assistance in response to acute urban food insecurity. A summary of a project in response to a food crisis in Jakarta is presented to highlight unconventional mechanisms which can be used to deliver food aid in a mega-city. The paper concludes with suggestions on how monitoring and responding to food crises in mega-cities can be improved.