Food security in Southern African cities

Jonathan Crush, Alice Hovorka and Daniel Tevera
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Jonathan Crush: Department of Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 and Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town
Alice Hovorka: Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
Daniel Tevera: Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni, Swaziland

Progress in Development Studies, 2011, vol. 11, issue 4, 285-305

Abstract: Several decades of research on ‘urban agriculture’ have led to markedly different conclusions about the actual and potential role of household food production in African cities. In the context of rapid urbanization, urban agriculture is, once again, being advocated as a means to mitigate the growing food insecurity of the urban poor. This article examines the contemporary importance of household food production in poor urban communities in 11 different Southern African Development Community (SADC) cities. It shows that urban food production is not particularly significant in most communities and that many more households rely on supermarkets and the informal sector to access food. Even fewer households derive income from the sale of produce. This picture varies considerably, however, from city to city, for reasons that require further research and explanation.

Keywords: food security; urban agriculture; urbanization; SADC; poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:prodev:v:11:y:2011:i:4:p:285-305

DOI: 10.1177/146499341001100402

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