Urban Food Insecurity Research Articles

English

It is estimated that 25% of Zimbabwe’s population lives in urban areas (CSO, 2002), 70% below the poverty line, and a million in the city of Gweru. The worsening macroeconomic situation in 2008 resulted in urban food insecurity. Households adopted different survival strategies, including the intensification of urban agriculture. In an effort to assess the extent to which urban household food insecurity is mitigated by UA activities, a comparative analysis between households practicing and not practicing UA was done in Gweru in 2009. Household size as well as household head sex, age and employment status were found to affect household UA practice. Results indicated that UA practicing households were food-secure than non-practicing households. Household size, UA participation, household income, household head sex, maize meal price affected household food expenditure. Household head sex, UA participation, household head age and informal activities carried out by household members significantly affected urban household food security. The study concluded that there are synergies that exist between UA and urban household food security. Key words: Urban agriculture, household food security, Gweru.

THE PREVALENCE OF URBAN FOOD PRODUCTION AND FOOD INSECURITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN CITIES

ISHS International Symposium on Urban and Peri-Urban Horticulture in the Century of Cities: Lessons, Challenges, Opportunitites THE PREVALENCE OF URBAN FOOD PRODUCTION AND FOOD INSECURITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN CITIES

Gendered Mobilities and Food Access in Blantyre, Malawi

Access to food, rather than a shortage of food availability, is the central problem for urban household food security. Blantyre presents a useful case study for demonstrating the importance of linking gender and urban food security. Rates of urban food insecurity are less severe than in other cities surveyed by AFSUN. Yet, female-centred households were twice as likely to be severely food insecure as nuclear households. This paper offers some explanations for the survey findings by drawing on qualitative research to understand the gendered geographies of food access in Blantyre. The first point is that gender shapes mobility, which in turn shapes a household’s ability to increase its food security by procuring food from the most affordable sources, particularly peri-urban markets. The second point is that gender shapes a household’s ability to produce its own food, a popular livelihood strategy in Blantyre that often mitigates the effects of low incomes on household food security. The third point is that gender influences a person’s potential income, which shapes the household’s economic access to food. These three points demonstrate the multi-dimensional relationship between gender and urban food security.

Uganda’s Emerging Urban Policy Environment: Implications for Urban Food Security and Urban Migrants

In recognition of the challenges posed by Uganda’s rapid urbanization, the national government is in the process of developing a Uganda national urban policy (UNUP). The government is also preparing a “stringent” new national migration policy. Up to now, Uganda’s policy environment has ignored the urban dimensions of poverty and the food insecurity that accompanies it. Migration, an important driver of both urban poverty and urban food insecurity, has been poorly understood, and only international migration has been addressed. This paper explores the urban policy environment and the multilevel governance policy process in Uganda, in order to understand not only how new policies are being shaped by the government’s political priorities in the face of its weakening popular legitimacy and growing signs of urban discontent but also what potential entry points exist to influence policy making in Uganda in ways that might better support the needs of the nation’s growing numbers of urban food insecure, among them are internally displaced Ugandans.

City Without Choice: Urban Food Insecurity in Msunduzi, South Africa

The official moniker of the city of Msunduzi in Kwazulu-Natal is “city of choice.” The economic revival of Msunduzi over the past decade has been driven by the influx of capital to a city that claims to offer significant advantages to the investor. This paper examines whether this marketing ploy has enlarged the choices of the poorer residents of the city, with particular regard to their food security. Using data from the 2008–2009 African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) baseline survey, the paper shows that Msunduzi’s residents experience higher levels of food insecurity than like neighbourhoods in Cape Town and Johannesburg and many other cities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Unlike a number of these cities, the food sourcing strategies of households are severely constrained. Urban agriculture and rural–urban food transfers are limited, and the informal food economy is much less significant than elsewhere. The control of the urban food system largely rests in the hands of supermarkets whose location and pricing policies put quality food outside the reach of most poor households. Although many are forced to buy supermarket food, through lack of choice, food shortages and a lack of dietary diversity are endemic. Worst off are female-headed households whose levels of unemployment are higher than average and whose incomes are lower than average.

The Dimensions of Urban Food Insecurity in Gaborone, Botswana

Research on food security in Botswana has mainly focused on the country’s rural areas. Much less is known about the extent and nature of food insecurity in the country’s cities and towns. This makes it difficult for development practitioners and policymakers to quantify the challenge and to make plans to reduce the food gap that exists in urban areas. In an effort to understand the extent and determinants of food insecurity in Gaborone, African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN)’s local partner, the University of Botswana, undertook a baseline study of 400 households drawn from Old Naledi, White City/Bontleng and Broadhurst. Levels of food insecurity in these areas of Gaborone were high and, despite the economic health of Botswana compared to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, no better than in many other cities. Only 12 % of households were completely food secure, while 62 % were severely food insecure. Food insecurity is endemic in the poorer parts of Gaborone, and Botswana’s ‘economic miracle’ is clearly not reaching many of these households.

Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Challenges and Opportunities

The majority of the global population lives in cities. In the developing world, a three-fold challenge of population growth, urbanization, and urban food insecurity is posing challenges for cities. Urban agriculture has received increasing attention as one strategy to help cope with this. Using the annual statistical data of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, this paper reported on trends in urban agriculture (rice, vegetables, cattle, swine, and poultry) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia since 1993. At least 125 square kilometers (~20%) of the municipal area of Phnom Penh is used in agriculture, with nearly 300,000 swine, cattle, and poultry. It is the sixth largest industry in the city and the most important secondary economic activity. Yield data for rice and vegetables are not significantly different between Phnom Penh and the Cambodian average. Cattle, swine, and poultry populations have been declining in Phnom Penh since 1993 but all increased in 2011. Between 1993 and 2011, vegetable production and area cultivated have decreased, whereas rice production has increased. To maximize the multifunctional benefits of urban agriculture in Phnom Penh, further research is needed to understand its importance at the household level and to ensure that it is being practiced effectively and sustainably.

Civil society and urban food insecurity: analyzing the roles of local food organizations in Johannesburg

Food security civil society organizations (FSCSOs) have emerged as important institutions in the battle against food insecurity in the Global South. However, little attention has so far been paid to their organizational structure, institutional roles, and governance configurations. To fill this gap, in this paper I used surveys, semi-structured interviews, and place-based case studies to analyze the landscape of Johannesburg’s FSCSOs. Results indicate that while they fulfill many important roles, an uneven distribution of resources, institutional instability, and underdevelopment of food security social movements nevertheless weakens their ability to be effective service providers and vehicles of broader social change. Thus, despite a growing literature on alternative food and food justice movements that heralds FSCSOs as a solution to urban food insecurity, this paper argues that their conceptualization has, so far, been poorly developed; and as a consequence, their transformative potential remains weakly theorized.

Urban food insecurity: A neglected public health challenge

Our current way of eating makes us ill, divides us, and harms our planet. The health burden of our current diet is considerable, and there is increasing evidence that it is not environmentally or socially sustainable. Yet food and nutrition continue to receive little attention in health policy and professional training, locally and internationally. This is particularly true when the urban scale is considered. National food security and nutrition policy focuses disproportionately on rural populations. We argue that a revitalised public health agenda focusing on the conditions that shape what we eat would have significant benefits for current and future generations of South Africans. This has implications for how we educate the future generation of medical and healthcare professionals in South Africa (SA).

The social and spatial dynamics of community food production: a landscape approach to policy and program development

Community food production in the form of home gardening, community gardening, school gar- dening, and urban farming continues to increase in popularity in many parts of the world. This interest has led to public and private investment in community food production and increased need for urban agricul- tural planning as a way to manage growth and prioritize resource allocation. Municipal planning and thoughtful institutional support for the practice will require program evaluation and greater attention to the spatial composition and configuration of this widely dispersed practice. This article explores the results of community-supported landscape socio-eco- logical research in Madison, WI (USA) to assess the spatial and social dynamics of community food production. Results indicate that community food production resources are unevenly distributed across the study area. Historic community garden placement does appear to be consistent with community priori- tization which dictates placing resources in areas with low median household income. However, home garden presence and recent community garden place- ment both occur in areas of higher than average median household income. Specific focus is placed on how an understanding of landscape placement and pattern has helped inform attempts to meet municipal and regional objectives in addressing urban food insecurity.

Beyond the food desert: finding ways to speak about urban food security in south africa

.Urban food security is a significant development challenge in sub‐Saharan Africa. However, the field is currently under ‐researched and under‐theorized. Urban food insecurity, where it is considered, has been viewed through a development studies lens that views food insecurity as a household‐scale problem. There has been significant focus on food deserts in developed countries as one way of engaging with such insecurity. The food deserts research views food insecurity through a social exclusion and food justice lens. This article introduces the food desert concept to provide a conceptual tool to begin to understand the spatial determinants of urban food insecurity, which are not well captured by the existing framings of food security in the region. Using data from a 2008 household food security survey conducted in Cape Town, the paper highlights gaps in the food deserts approach, most significantly its neglect of non‐market sources of food and of household decision‐making processes. The paper therefore concludes by suggesting a new approach which takes the household's assets, abilities and decision‐making as the starting point and overlays this with the market and non‐market foodscapes accessed by these households.

The Crisis of Food Insecurity in African Cities

Rapid urbanization and increasing urban poverty are shifting the historical locus of food insecurity from the rural areas to the cities of Africa. This article uses data from the African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) baseline survey carried out in 11 cities in 9 southern African countries in 2008–2009 to demonstrate the existence of extremely high levels of urban food insecurity. The lack of access to food is primarily the result of household poverty, high unemployment, and limited income-generating opportunities rather than any absolute food shortages. The article also shows the growing importance of supermarkets, and the relative insignificance of urban agriculture in the food sourcing strategies of the urban poor.

Determinants of Food Insecurity among Households in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Even though there is long-held belief that urban populations are better off, or even favoured than rural populations, the recent food and financial crises have highlighted the problem of urban food insecurity in developing countries. Hence, the overall objective of this study was to examine the determinants of food insecurity among urban households in Addis Ababa city. To do so, both descriptive statistics and econometric analysis were employed. Descriptive statistics used Foster, Greer and Thorbeck distributional measure of food insecurity while econometric analysis used binary logistic regression model to analyze the data of a set of socio-economic variables as explanatory variables and food insecurity as independent variable. The head count index shows that 58,16 % of the total households are below the food insecurity line. The food insecurity gap and severity were 20 % and 9,4 %, respectively. The result of the logistic regression model estimate indicates that out of the 10 factors included, 6 were found to have a significant influence on the probability of being food insecure at less than 10 % significance level. The variables considered were household size, age of household head, household head education, and access to credit, household asset possession, and access to employment. Efforts should be made to improve income earning capacity of households, their education level with particular focus on vocational training, reduce household size with a view to reducing their dependency ratio and access of credit to the needy and trained people needs to be provided with proper targeting criterion.

Vulnerability in crisis: urban household food insecurity in Epworth, Harare, Zimbabwe

Much of the contemporary literature on food security has focused on the rural sector. However, within the current context of high demographic growth, rapid urbanization and rising urban poverty which characterizes much of Sub-Saharan Africa, urban food insecurity cannot continue to be ignored. This study therefore examines the vulnerability of poor households to food insecurity in the challenging urban environment of Harare in Zimbabwe, an acute example of a city (and country) ‘in crisis’. Findings from qualitative and quantitative research demonstrate severe food insecurity characterized by critical food shortages and the consumption of narrower diets among poor households in the city. Household vulnerability to food insecurity stemmed from a range of factors, including: high levels of unemployment and poverty; high dependency ratios; low levels of house ownership; hyperinflation; skyrocketing food prices; and the general collapse of the formal food system. Vulnerability to food insecurity was further exacerbated by a prolonged adverse socio-political climate that undermined national economic recovery and reduced the livelihood opportunities available to the urban poor. The paper concludes that in Harare, as in most urban areas of the developing world, the urban poor have become highly vulnerable to food insecurity.

Urban food insecurity and the new international food security agenda

The new global and African food security agenda is overwhelmingly productionist and rural in its orientation, and is based on the premise that food insecurity is primarily a rural problem requiring a massive increase in smallholder production. This agenda is proceeding despite overwhelming evidence of rapid urbanisation and the growing likelihood of an urban future for the majority of Africans. Urban food insecurity can therefore no longer be ignored. This paper argues that achieving urban food security is the emerging development challenge for the 21st century and that the complexities of urban food systems urgently need to be addressed by researchers, policy makers, and international donors and multilateral agencies.

Urban food insecurity in Cape Town, South Africa: An alternative approach to food access

This paper presents data from the African Food Security Urban Network's 2008 baseline survey of Cape Town. This survey found that 80% of the sampled households could be classified as moderately or severely food insecure. In urban areas the main driver of food insecurity is not availability but access. Access is typically viewed as being directly related to income. Households were found to use formal food markets, but more frequently depended on informal sector markets and informal social safety nets. The more food insecure and income poor a household was, the more likely it was to be dependent on less formal means of securing food. This suggests that there is some form of market failure in the formal food system. This paper therefore advocates for a food systems approach that validates and supports the role that the informal sector plays in urban food security.

The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and an Index-Member Dietary Diversity Score Contribute Valid and Complementary Information on Household Food Insecurity in an Urban West-African Setting ,

The number of urban poor is increasing quickly in West Africa, yet food security early warning systems still do not include urban areas. One reason is the lack of appropriate and internationally agreed-upon indicators to measure urban household food insecurity. Our objective was to assess the performance of the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) and an index-member’s dietary diversity score (IDDS) to approximate the adequacy of urban households’ diets. A survey was performed on a random cluster sample of 1056 households in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Data on HFIAS and IDDS and 2 nonconsecutive household quantitative 24-h recalls were collected twice, in June-July and in November-December 2007. Diet adequacy was assessed through the household’s mean adequacy ratio (MAR) using energy and 11 micronutrients. Structural equation modeling was used to quantify the association of each candidate indicator with the MAR and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed to assess their targeting performance in predicting low or high MAR. HFIAS was negatively associated with the MAR [path coefficient (P) = −7.95 × 10−3 ± 1.45 × 10−3; P < 0.001], whereas IDDS was positively associated with it (P = 5.19 × 10−2 ± 1.27 × 10−2; P < 0.001). Areas under the ROC curves ranged from 0.585 to 0.661 for HFIAS and from 0.536 to 0.629 for IDDS. In conclusion, HFIAS and IDDS performed well in approximating adequacy of urban households’ diets. They are informative indicators about urban food insecurity, promising for evaluation and monitoring but not for household targeting given their insufficient predictive power.

Urban Agriculture in Low Income Households of Harare: An Adaptive Response to Economic Crisis

Urban farming has for years served as a vital input in the livelihood strategies of urban households in Zimbabwe. In general, urban dwellers rely on the market for food but with the tremendous surge in food prices beyond the reach of the majority of the population, the poor urbanites in Zimbabwe have resorted to intensifying urban agriculture as a coping strategy to meet their immediate food requirements. This paper discusses the contribution of urban agriculture to reducing food poverty in the context of sustainable urban development. The elements of urban agricultural production and food insecurity, alleviation of urban poverty and the state of the environment are analysed holistically. The findings of the paper are derived from qualitative and quantitative data collected from 59 low income urban farming households, field observations and key informant interviews conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe in July and August 2008. The results of the data analysis indicate that urban agriculture in low income households has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce but shortage of agricultural resources, serious environmental health risks and policy gaps remain paramount obstacles to realizing the full potential of urban agricultural development. The results also show that active participation in urban agricultural activities is done predominantly by women. The research shows that urban agriculture contributes to household food supply and access but its potential in terms of food utilization, dietary diversity and poverty alleviation should not be overemphasised. Finally, a number of recommendations are suggested for improving urban agriculture from a human ecological perspective.

Structure and properties of urban household food demand in Nairobi, Kenya: implications for urban food security

Urban household food insecurity continues to be a major problem in many urban households of Sub-Saharan Africa. The ineffectiveness of policies addressing the problem has hinged in particular on the paucity of information about consumption patterns under changing economic conditions. Elasticities of food demand were estimated through the Linear Approximated Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) and inferences about access to food were drawn. Shifts in consumption were evident when changes occurred in income, prices and household demography. As the urban poor are sensitive to variation in food prices and income, they should be cushioned against their negative effects in order for their access to food to be enhanced and hence their food security improved. Dairy and dairy products and wheat and wheat products were identified as subsidy carriers which would improve the nutrition of the urban poor. These results provide guidance for the design of food security and nutrition strategies and programs at the micro and macro-economic levels.

Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical evidence from a sample of developing countries

Urban agriculture may have a role to play in addressing urban food insecurity problems, which are bound to become increasingly important with the secular trend towards the urbanization of poverty and of population in developing regions. Our understanding of the importance, nature and food security implications of urban agriculture is however plagued by a lack of good quality, reliable data. While studies based on survey data do exist for several major cities, much of the evidence is still qualitative if not anecdotal. Using a recently created dataset bringing together comparable, nationally representative household survey data for 15 developing or transition countries, this paper analyzes in a comparative international perspective the importance of urban agriculture for the urban poor and food insecure. Some clear hints do come from our analysis. On the one hand, the potential for urban agriculture to play a substantial role in urban poverty and food insecurity reduction should not be overemphasised, as its share in income and overall agricultural production is often quite limited. On the other hand, though, its role should also not be too easily dismissed, particularly in much of Africa and in all those countries in which agriculture provides a substantial share of income for the urban poor, and for those groups of households to which it constitutes an important source of livelihoods. We also find fairly consistent evidence of a positive statistical association between engagement in urban agriculture and dietary adequacy indicators.