Abstract
Renewed interest in the nexus between sustainability and food security has led to growing discussions on the use of food sovereignty principles in agricultural practice. As a result of the transfiguration of the urban and socioeconomic landscape in the global South, urban and peri-urban agriculture has been touted as a potential response to increasing food insecurity in cities. Yet, both urban and peri-urban agriculture and food sovereignty have attracted cursory scholarship and programming in Zimbabwe due to fixation on more dominant rural and conventional agriculture. Beyond the rudimentary idea that the urban landscape is unfit for food production, literature has demonstrated that urban households have ingrained urban and peri-urban agriculture into their livelihoods. Regardless, institutional arrangements governing the practice remain ambivalent towards the practice, bringing to question the ability of households to fully exploit the benefits of the practice. This review underscores that failure to involve of all stakeholders undermines urban and peri-urban agriculture, consequently leading to heightened food insecurity and use of unsustainable practices. By delving into the political economy of food, we hope to stimulate discussion centered on food sovereignty within and urban spaces and beyond.
Highlights
Urban food security is a key challenge for most households in cities
Struggles for autonomy in their food systems, food sovereignty is a political concept which advocates shifting from the dominant model of production to one that is more attuned to the needs of the poor [56]
Access to nutritious and sustainably grown food is borne out by research that shows the merits of espousing food sovereignty
Summary
Urban food security is a key challenge for most households in cities. Four decades after Sen’s declaration on the importance of access, most studies on UPA remain myopic in their focus They pay limited or no attention to the link between access, human rights and food security. Kimani-Murage’s mixed methods study to explore food security among informal settlers in Nairobi after the election crisis in 2007/8 Their findings suggest that while food insecurity was typical among households, it was heightened by political instability [15]. There is a dearth of UA studies that provide statistically grounded evidence of its impact on food security [8] This has led to wide scepticism among scholars regarding the level of impact UPA has in curbing food insecurity. Crush et al’s findings highlight that lack of resources among the urban poor means that they derive nominal benefits from UA compared to their more affluent counterparts [33]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
