Ensuring healthy and local food for all

Namur is the picturesque capital of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. This Energy Cities member is well known for its hilltop Citadel and its UNESCO heritage sites. The city is strongly committed to climate neutrality. The municipality has launched initiatives in renewable energy, sustainable transport, and green infrastructure to shrink its carbon footprint and support the creation of eco-friendly businesses.
Namur is also a frontrunner in developing sustainable food systems. To explore more of the local initiatives, we talked to Stéphanie Scailquin, Deputy Mayor of the City of Namur and responsible for urban planning, urban attractiveness, and green transition.

What’s the current agriculture and food situation in Namur? Which challenges are you facing?

Namur has the ambition to ensure local and sustainable food for its 114,000 residents. The municipality includes 70 km² of agricultural land, but the production of fruit and vegetables is not enough. We want to be self-sufficient in food. Of course, we are also committed to protecting our agricultural land and meeting the EU targets, namely –55% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Which initiatives is Namur taking to tackle these issues and move towards a more sustainable food system?

In 2020, the local authority declared a climate emergency to enable action. All parties signed the Air Climate Energy Plan, which was co-developed with citizens and contains 138 measures. Among other goals, the Plan aims to preserve agricultural land, develop a sustainable food system, and make food accessible. Moreover, we strive to ensure young farmers can access a piece of land.
Several projects are supporting our commitment. For example, we built a market hall to sell local and sustainable food in Namur. We have made orchards and agricultural land available for farmers. We grant schools and nursing homes access to quality food. Finally, we offer financial support for the opening of local food businesses.

The Strategic Plan for Organic Agriculture (PSDAB) sets a goal of achieving 30% organic agricultural land by 2030 in Wallonia. Is this target feasible?
We can’t say yet, but we have taken a series of concrete initiatives to achieve that goal. We hope we will.

How do you ensure access to quality food for people on low incomes?

We are committed to ensuring every child can eat healthily and locally every day in the school canteen, regardless of their parents’ income.
Additionally, a partnership between an NGO, a local producer and the city enables residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods to have access to local and seasonal vegetables and learn how to cook at low cost. Finally, we redistribute unsold food in food parcels.

How do you involve citizens in this sustainable revolution? What’s their feedback?

We support a food belt that connects 10 municipalities around Namur. To foster participation, we set up a citizens’ assembly on local and sustainable food called CADN.
The CADN helps with the implementation of agri-food policies that are more environmentally sustainable and socially just. This assembly is intended to be a space for dialogue, reflection and proposals on all matters relating to food and agriculture. It brings together key actors in this sector and involves interested citizens through working groups.
The Namur Demain Festival – three editions so far – involves a variety of actors in talks about climate change, local and sustainable food, and the energy economy. Experts also give citizens tips on decreasing their bills.
Additionally, the House of Sustainable Food (HSF) brings together different neighbours and fosters the launch of new projects. Citizens are generally satisfied with these initiatives.

Is it true that you have banned fast food in Namur?

In 2022, we decided, with a moratorium, not to allow new fast food restaurants with a drive-in to open in Namur. We took this decision for multiple reasons. Of course, we want to preserve a healthy offer by ensuring a good balance between fast food restaurants and other restaurants so that citizens have a variety of choices. Moreover, we refuse new drive-in restaurants to avoid mobility problems.
Finally, we reduced the threshold for planning permits from 400 m² to 200 m² to better supervise the installation of shops and restaurants in the area.

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