الفهرس 
Research Design & Methodology
Research RationaleOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Food security remains one of Egypt‟s fundamental challenges for development and human welfare. Egypt has suffered a series of shocks that declined its food and nutrition security over the years. A joint report between the WFP and CAPMAS in 2011, on the status of food security and poverty in Egypt highlighted an increase in food insecurity levels to reach 17.2% (13.7 million) of the Egyptian population and the numbers have been in continuous increase since then. Problems as poverty and food insecurity that are usually perceived as rural issues are becoming a rising concern for urban areas; with Greater Cairo Region having the largest population with poor access to food among other Egyptian governorates. This has contributed to an evident deterioration in the nutritional and health status of the Egyptian community; translated into heavy economic and social costs on the society at large, in what is known as “The Cost of Hunger”. Cities are bound to food by their appetite. Yet, as urban dwellers, we take our food for granted. We are oblivious to what it takes for our urban food systems to function and the amount of resources needed to feed our cities. The complexity and low visibility of urban food systems have hindered addressing them in the same magnitude as other urban challenges. However, urban food systems are directly related to city‟s economic and social development and welfare of its citizens. The research aims to investigate the impact of integrating sustainable local food strategies in Egyptian urban development plans. Starting by viewing how the act of feeding cities has playied a great role in shaping urban settlements; tracing the path of urban development through its relation to food systems. Followed by providing the main concepts and notions related to urban food systems; how food is viewed as a system and what constitutes an urban food system.
Reviewing the main social, economic and environmental drivers that triggered the decline of food insecurity levels in Egypt; shows that the way in which our cities are traditionally constructed has failed to keep in pace with its growing needs. Thus, new paradigms of thinking are needed to understand how food systems function and how they can be designed and monitored in a sustainable way. The devised method aims at rereading the city as an ecosystem; where flows of materials and energy cross; in what is known as „Urban Metabolism‟. Taking Cairo as a case study, an insight into the metabolism of its food system; can help us manage us its complexity and contribute to its sustainable development. Six vital food system flows are identified: land, water, energy, goods, capital and employment. The research is to analyze the flows, in relation to the main activities that constitute an urban food system; production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste, using flow diagrams and spatial maps for mapping the flows and visualizing the system’s transfers and their spatial consequences. Followed by a comprehensive analysis of the food system in terms of; the food system needs, resource use and environmental impacts, the food system‟s security; in terms of the food availability and access dimensions and the food system management; in terms of identifying the system‟s actors and policies; to provide pointers to the system‟s challenges and inefficiencies and look for potential synergies that could minimize its losses and maximize its returns.