All 20 African and European cities were onboarded, including 5 Hub Cities and 15 Sharing Cities. Cities were organised into five thematic clusters to support structured peer learning, with city-to-city exchanges designed in RP1 and completed in RP2. A Network Cities Strategy was implemented, engaging 50 cities to date and exceeding the original target.
Significant progress was achieved across the four project objectives. Under Objective 1, embedded researchers were deployed across all cities and State of City Food System Reports were completed using a shared urban food systems lens, providing comparable analyses of urban food system dynamics. These were complemented by detailed case studies and ethnographic research on vulnerable groups in Hub Cities, resulting in city-scale food and nutrition reports. A Community of Practice and an integrated central knowledge hub were established and are actively used.
Under Objective 2, baseline food environment reports and proposals for real-world socio-technical experiments were completed for all Hub and Sharing Cities. Implementation commenced in RP2, with first results collected across intervention areas including school meals, food waste, markets, informal trade, salt reduction and food governance. Several experiments received external recognition, including at the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact Awards 2025. The co-design and implementation processes generated valuable research insights and strengthened multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Under Objective 3, inclusive multi-actor governance was strengthened through food governance assessments, food dialogues and multi-stakeholder platforms in all cities. Action plans were discussed and approved, providing a foundation for policy development and institutional uptake.
Under Objective 4, incubation programmes for women- and youth-led agri-food businesses were launched in all Hub Cities. Circular economy food businesses were selected through a competitive process for scale-up Grants, financing models were co-developed and piloted, circularity coaching was delivered, and cross-city technical exchange supported the identification of scalable business and investment cases.
