Urban African food systems as sites of challenges and opportunities for household food equity and resilience

Résumé

Food and nutrition security remain a significant challenge in Southern Africa’s urban food systems (UFS), where most urban households buy rather than grow their food. UFS comprise a hybrid mix of household food sourcing opportunities from retailers, including open-air markets, street vendors, shops, and supermarkets, as well as household-level strategies, such as urban agriculture. UFS thus bridge the divide between sites of food production and consumption. Yet, the efficacy and equity of UFS in Southern Africa are threatened by climate change, conflict, and disease, among other challenges. At the same time, ongoing nutrition transitions are rapidly transforming UFS environments in ways that are difficult for policymakers to anticipate. With a framing of equity and resilience, we present an empirical case study of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected UFS based on household survey data from 14 small, remote, connected, and larger secondary cities in Zambia. We conducted descriptive and regression analyses to assess what types of households in different city types adopted urban agriculture and bought food at open-air markets, vendors, local shops, and supermarkets in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Households from diverse socioeconomic quartiles perceived similar challenges to maintaining food security and coped with food insecurity in different ways, depending on their capacities and the resources available to them. Diverse households also navigated food sourcing options in UFS in unique ways during the early pandemic years across diverse secondary cities. Households in smaller and remote cities tended to source food from open-air markets, vendors, and urban agriculture, whereas households in more connected cities purchased food from local shops. In consideration of the diverse household and city-scale needs, we contend that creating more resilient and equitable UFS in Zambia and Southern Africa necessitates a comprehensive and adaptable approach to urban policy and planning that recognizes the interconnected and mutually reinforcing relationship between UFS and household resilience.

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