Previously exiled beyond the city boundary, new forms of agriculture are now returning to city centers.

The right to food is recognized as one of the fundamental human rights withinthe global framework for sustainable development and it is embedded in different agendas. In order to promote prosperity and quality of life for all, the Rightto the City, recognized in the New Urban Agenda signed in Quito, promotes ensuring that all inhabitants, both present and future generations, without discrimination of any kind, can create cities and human settlements, that are just,safe, healthy, accessible, affordable, resilient and sustainable

The agri-food system of the city-region of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is highly dependent, vulnerable and diverse, three characteristics that marked the process of formulating an agri-food policy, which required the contribution of a wide range of actors.

El Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, con una población mayoritariamente urbana (72%) y altamente dependiente de fuentes externas de alimentos, debe asumir el reto de garantizar el acceso a alimentos inocuos, nutritivos y asequibles para sus habitantes, así como enfrentar la degradación ambiental y los factores climáticos que pueden incidir sobre el desarrollo del sector agropecuario y la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional.

Launched in the aftermath of a deep economic crisis and set up on the basis of a broad urban consultation, Quito’s Participatory Urban Agriculture Programme promotes the production, processing, marketing and distribution of healthy organic food from urban and peri-urban gardens in the Metropolitan District of Quito