Paper short abstract:

Governance is vital for urban food system transformation. FUSILLI monitored advocacy in 70 actions across 12 cities, 59% showing positive progress. Positive relationship was observed between advocacy efforts & governance involvement, highlighting their interconnected role in driving positive change.

Paper long abstract:

Advocacy, particularly at the governance level, plays a pivotal role in instigating and advancing urban food system transformation. The dependence of public institutions on politics and their lobbying capacity for food system issues within the local context underscores the significance of advocacy throughout the food chain. Method: FUSILLI Project focused on 12 participant cities to identify actions where advocacy work was crucial. An Advocacy Indicator template was devised and measured at M0, M24 and M36 encompassing aspects like the number of campaigns, meetings, and the influence on stakeholders and policymakers. The evaluation procedure assigned two points to the first question, irrespective of the number of actions, while subsequent questions received 2 points when “yes”, 1 when “partially” and 0 when “no”. Results highlighted 70 actions where the advocacy indicator was crucial, with 59% exhibiting positive progress from baseline to M36. Governance-related actions, comprising 53% of the total, demonstrated a significant association with advocacy work, with 65% displaying positive progress. Rome, emerged as the leader in advocacy efforts, officially establishing the first Food Policy Council. Conclusion: Over half of the actions measured with the advocacy indicator witnessed positive progress, with governance actions being particularly associated with advocacy work. After three years (M36), a positive correlation was observed between advocacy efforts and governance involvement, facilitating actions in the field. The study also highlighted the essential role of advocacy and government support for the success of certain actions within the urban food system transformation.