Rourkela Shines at Global Forum, ‘E-Cool Mandi’ Bags Milan Pact Awards 2022
Rourkela: The Rourkela Smart City Limited (RSCL) won the Milan Pact Awards 2022. The RMC was judged the best among a large number of participating cities around the world, in the Social & Economic Equity category, with its practice ‘E-Cool Mandi ‘.
Rourkela was awarded at the 8th World Forum of the MUFPP (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact) in Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for October 17-19, under the theme “Food to Feed the Climate Justice: urban food solutions for a fairer world”. .
Food Safety Officer, Rourkela Municipal Corporation, Swagatika Behera received the award in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
The winners in the other categories are listed below:
Governance: New York, USA – A New York framework for buying good food;
Sustainable Diets and Nutrition: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Addis Ababa School Feeding Programme;
Social and Economic Equity: Rourkela, India – E-Cool Mandi;
Food production: Rosario, Argentina – Agroecological food production in Rosario;
Food supply and distribution: Yeosu, South Korea – Strategy to secure our talents and small farms;
Food Waste: London, England – London Food Waste Reduction Program.
It can be noted that in this year’s edition of the Milan Pact Awards, 133 cities submitted 251 practices, making it the most attended edition of all time. During the event, the winners will come together for a panel discussion to share their achievements and challenges with MUFPP signatory cities.
“Reading about best practices, we realized that cities can be excellent testbeds for many innovative projects that tackle poor diets, provide decent jobs, reduce carbon emissions, support farmers and local communities, adopt creative approaches to urban agriculture, improve children’s health through the integration of plant-based solutions in school meals, use the Covid pandemic to move towards more systemic interventions and much more. “said the organizers of the event in a congratulatory letter to RMC.
The Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) has started a cold storage project with the aim of providing a sustainable income for female vegetable sellers by controlling distress selling and reducing waste. The project planned to provide about 700 street vendors selling vegetables and fruits, mostly women, with solar-powered cold rooms to reduce waste and electric vehicles for distribution.
Vegetables are perishable commodities and local vendors and farmers are selling around 30% of their unsold stock at ridiculous prices, fearing damage. Secure storage would avoid wastage and eventually improve their income,
It is worth mentioning that the 8th World Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, organized by the city of Rio de Janeiro, aims to deepen the themes of sustainable development, placing food systems at the center of its agenda.
“Cities and governments are essential to promote job creation and income generation through sustainable and inclusive food systems, while respecting the environment and workers’ rights, supporting local products, healthy diets healthier and more affordable and reducing food waste,” added the MUFPP.
