Food Studies Commons^™

No. 16: Inclusive Growth And The Informal Food Sector In Cape Town, South Africa, Godfrey Tawodzera, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report on the informal food sector in Cape Town is the third on the city’s food system published by the Hungry Cities Partnership in collaboration with the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town. The earlier reports provided background and context on the nature of the food system (Haysom et al 2017) and the importance of the informal food sector in household food consumption (Crush et al 2018). Additional context is provided by HCP Discussion Paper No. 23, which situates this research in relation to literature on the South African informal economy in general, and the …

No. 24: Achieving Urban Food Security Through A Public-Private Hybrid Food Provisioning System: A Case Study Of Nanjing, China, Taiyang Zhong, Zhenzhong Si, Jonathan Crush, Xianjin Huang, Steffanie Scott, Menglu Yan, Shuangshuang Tang, Xiang Zhang

Hungry Cities Partnership

Private and public markets are two models of urban food retailing governance. This paper examines the public-private hybrid model of urban food provisioning system and its governance in Nanjing, China. Based on data from surveys, non-structured interviews, and bibliographical material analysis, we examine the public-private hybrid model and its linkages with urban food security. Our analysis shows that the public-private hybrid model of food markets and its governance ensures a relatively high-level urban food security in Nanjing. We argue that the hybrid food market governance system effectively integrates public and private capital into a government-supported and regulated, small-business-based system in …

No. 23: Food Vending And The Urban Informal Sector In Cape Town, South Africa, Godfrey Tawodzera

Hungry Cities Partnership

In South Africa, the informal food sector is either criminalized or ignored, despite the important role it plays in the economy in terms of employment, income generation, food distribution, and general livelihoods. This paper assesses the nature, operations, strategies, and challenges of the informal food sector in Cape Town. Data was collected through a survey of over 1,000 informal food vendors in the city. Survey results indicate that most of the enterprises were single-owner businesses, financed from personal savings, and started by owners seeking employment, independence, and improved financial security for their families. Most businesses had little or no access …

No. 34: The Political Economy Of Informal Food Vending In Kingston, Jamaica, Robert Kinlocke, Elizabeth Thomas-Hope

Hungry Cities Partnership

Small-scale food enterprises occupy a critical space in the food system of Kingston, Jamaica. While smallscale food retailers serve the entire population, they are disproportionately relied on by poor urban households. The nodes and networks of retailers play an important role in the value and commodity chain by providing access to comparatively cheap food but are often affected by economic vagaries and state-level regulation, among other factors that potentially challenge the sustainability of trade. These issues are potentially offset by a highly dynamic system where entry into the trade is maintained by the high levels of unemployment and limited alternatives. …

No. 18: Gender Inequality, Poverty And Urban Household Food Security In Cape Town, Mary Caesar, Liam Riley

Hungry Cities Partnership

This discussion paper aims to advance our understanding of the gendered nature of urban household food security and how it is shaped by the relationships between internal household gender dynamics and external social factors of gender- and race-based inequalities. The manifestation of the gender inequalityfood security nexus at the household level is most evident in the different food-related roles and responsibilities adopted by women and men. These differences typically centre on tasks such as growing, purchasing, and preparing food as well as household members who undertake none of these responsibilities. Other gender-based household food security determinants include the gender of …

No. 19: Food Insecurity And Alternative Food Networks In Cities Of The Global South, Gareth Haysom

Hungry Cities Partnership

Using the concept of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), this discussion paper interrogates these networks and asks how they manifest in the context of food insecurity in cities of the global South. AFNs evident in Northern cities generally present a perspective of the food system that prioritises sustainability and a deep green and often local ethic, embodying aspirations of food system change. In Southern cities, food system engagement is less about engagement for change, but rather to enable food access. Traditional value chain parlance sees a value chain extending from producer to consumer. Drawing on research from food security studies carried …

No. 20: Cross-Platform Food Shopping And Household Food Access In Nanjing, China, Cameron Mccordic, Zhenzhong Si, Taiyang Zhong

Hungry Cities Partnership

Modern urban food systems have evolved into international, multi-scalar and complex networks. The historical evolution of the food system in Nanjing, China, exemplifies this complexity. Nanjing’s food system has undergone successive waves of modernization, bringing changes in consumer food sourcing behaviour along with it. Using household survey data, this investigation assesses the cross-platform food sourcing behaviour of households in Nanjing to untangle some of the complex relationships linking food retailers to consumers in the city. The findings indicate that the surveyed households largely prefer purchasing fresh food from wet markets over prepared food from fast food retailers, restaurants and online …

No. 21: Urban Informal Food Deserts In Windhoek, Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence Kazembe, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

Informal settlements in rapidly-growing African cities are urban and peri-urban spaces with high rates of formal unemployment, poverty, poor health outcomes, limited service provision and chronic food insecurity. Traditional concepts of food deserts developed to describe North American and European cities do not accurately capture the realities of food inaccessibility in Africa’s urban informal food deserts. This paper focuses on a case study of informal settlements in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to shed further light on the relationship between informality and food deserts in African cities. The data for the paper was collected in 2016 and involved a survey of …

No. 16: Cheap Industrial Food And The Urban Margins, Tony Weis, Marylynn Steckley, Bruce Frayne

Hungry Cities Partnership

From the middle of the 20th century onwards, the productivity gains associated with high-input, high-yield monocultures and livestock operations have become increasingly central to global food security and to dynamics of urbanization across the global south. On one hand, competition has deflated prices and helped undermine the viability of small farm livelihoods in many places. On the other hand, rising flows of cheap food have effectively subsidized urban migration in impoverished urban and peri-urban settings. But this cheapness is highly deceptive, as it hinges on the failure to account for an array of biological and physical costs – which can …

No. 17: Revisiting Africa's Supermarket Revolution, Jonathan Crush, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence N. Kazembe, Jeremy Wagner

Hungry Cities Partnership

Africa is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate and food systems are undergoing rapid transformation. This transformation is being driven in part by a global supermarket revolution. However, the idea of an inexorable supermarket revolution on the continent has recently been contested. This paper examines the role of supermarkets in Namibia’s capital city Windhoek to test the applicability of the model. The paper is based on (a) a review of the literature on South African supermarket expansion; (b) a survey of the food purchasing behaviour of a representative sample of 875 households in Windhoek; and (c) a comprehensive product inventory of …

No.03: Devising Urban Food Security Policy For African Cities, James Sgro

Hungry Cities Partnership

■ Informal food services are one of the few options for financially disadvantaged families. Food access policy needs to be created in partnership with informal economy actors to ensure that those who rely on informal systems are not ignored.

■ As household size increases, the likelihood of food insecurity grows exponentially. Adequate social protection programs are required to support household dependants including children and the aged and improve food security.

■ Secondary school completion is a specific milestone that significantly increases one’s food security outlook. Free primary and secondary school policies could return dividends in terms of nation-wide food security, …

No.01: The Sdgs, Food Security And Urbanization In The Global South, David Celis Parra, Krista Dinsmore, Nicole Fassina, Charlene Keizer

Hungry Cities Partnership

■ Urban food insecurity is distinct from that experienced in rural areas and must be addressed through a different set of policies.

■ While supermarkets are increasingly prevalent in urban centres of the Global South, the informal economy and state food distribution programs continue to play an important role in meeting food security needs of the urban poor.

■ The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, as part of a new in-ternational directive, recommends that governments aim to improve food security and nutrition over the next 15 years in response to the global challenge of fostering sustainability.

■ SDG …

No.02: An Urban Perspective On Food Security In The Global South, Michael Chong, Lucy Hinton, Jeremy Wagner, Amy Zavits

Hungry Cities Partnership

■ Food insecurity challenges in the Global South are changing as a result of rapid urbanization and the globalization of food supply chains.

■ Urban food insecurity is not distinct from rural food security challenges and policy seeking to address either should adopt a systems approach that strengthens their interdependence. There is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of rural food security programming while concurrently addressing the growing food security needs of vulnerable urban populations.

■ This brief recommends that food security policy should prioritize intra-urban stages of informal food value chains and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their …

A Land Not Forgotten: Indigenous Food Security & Land-Based Practices In Northern Ontario By Michael A. Robidoux And Courtney W. Mason, Tonia L. Payne Ph.D.

The Goose

Review of Michael A. Robidoux and Courtney W. Mason's (eds.) A Land Not Forgotten: Indigenous Food Security & Land-Based Practices in Northern Ontario.

Combating Food Waste: Dumpster Diving As A Form Of Consumer Resistance, Brock J. Vaughan

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This paper explores North America’s food waste issue associated with our current industrial globalized food system. Through a sociocultural lens, this essay examines the new social movement of dumpster diving among food waste activists and ‘freegans’ in urban areas. Millions of people are currently unaware as to where their next meal will come from, yet Western households and supermarkets waste massive amounts of edible food. Dumpster divers do not just encourage us to be mindful of the choices we make with respect to food waste; they seek to challenge pre-existing capitalist structures and conventional ways of thinking. Analyzing the counterculture …

No. 14: The Impact Of Proximity To Wet Markets And Supermarkets On Household Dietary Diversity In Nanjing City, China, Taiyang Zhong, Zhenzhong Si, Jonathan Crush, Zhiying Zu, Xianjin Huang, Steffanie Scott, Shuangshuang Tang, Xiang Zhang

Hungry Cities Partnership

Existing studies suggest that despite the proliferation of supermarkets, traditional wet markets have persisted in many countries and have been playing an important role in people’s daily food access. Yet, studies investigating the issue of food access and its influences on food security have mainly focused on food deserts and the proximity to supermarkets, with limited focus on wet markets and other food outlets. This study investigates the influence of the proximity to wet markets and supermarkets on urban household dietary diversity in Nanjing. Based on the data collected through a citywide survey in 2015 and the map data of …

No. 27: Food Security In Africa's Secondary Cities: No. 1 Mzuzu, Malawi, Liam Riley, Emmanuel Chilanga, Lovemore Zuze, Amanda Joynt

African Food Security Urban Network

This report marks the first stage of AFSUN’s goal of expanding knowledge about urban food systems and experiences of household food insecurity in secondary African cities. It contributes to an understanding of poverty and sustainability in Mzuzu, Malawi, through the lens of household food security. The focus on food as an urban issue not only speaks to the development challenges presented by urbanization, but it also brings a fresh perspective to debates about food security in Malawi. The urban setting highlights the changing food system in Malawi where people in rural and urban areas are increasingly reliant on cash income …

No. 09: The State Of Household Food Security In Nanjing, China, Zhenzhong Si, Taiyang Zhong

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report on the state of food security in Nanjing, China, is based on a 2015 city-wide survey conducted by Nanjing University and the Hungry Cities Partnership. The research found that most of the city’s residents are food secure, with access to desirable foods and high dietary diversity throughout the year. Nanjing has a high level of economic development, low unemployment, and spatially dense food supply networks. However, a high average level of food security obscures the finding that about one household in five is food insecure according to the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence indicator. Female-centred households, households that …

No. 10: The State Of Household Food Security In Maputo, Mozambique, Inês Raimundo, Cameron Mccordic, Abel Chikanda

Hungry Cities Partnership

The Hungry Cities Partnership aims to promote inclusive growth in urban food systems in Maputo and other cities of the Global South. The production of new empirical knowledge about the levels of household food security and the various facets of the urban food system is a core component of this effort. This report presents and analyses findings from a city-wide survey of 2,071 households that found that most Maputo households are food insecure and that more than a third can be categorized as severely food insecure. Dietary diversity in the city is extremely low and almost half of households had …

No. 13: The State Of Household Food Security In Mexico City, Mexico, Guénola Capron, Salomón Gonzalez Arellano, Jeremy Wagner, Cameron Mccordic

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report presents and analyzes the findings of a household food security survey conducted by Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana as part of the Hungry Cities Partnership in Mexico City from January 10-19, 2016. It is a supplement to HCP Report No. 7: The Urban Food System of Mexico City, Mexico (Capron et al 2017). HCP Report No. 7 discusses the history, demography and economy of Mexico City, and contains an overview of the existing literature on its changing food system. This report provides a foundation for future research of Mexico City’s food system, its food security and informal sector. It also …

No. 12: The State Of Household Food Security In Cape Town, South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Mary Caesar, Gareth Haysom

Hungry Cities Partnership

This research report presents and analyzes the findings of a household food secu-rity survey conducted in the City of Cape Town, South Africa, by the Hun-gry Cities Partnership (HCP) and the African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) in 2013 and 2014. It is a supplement to, and should be read in con-junction with, AFSUN Urban Food Series No. 11: The State of Urban Food Insecurity in Cape Town (Battersby 2011) and HCP Report No. 3: The Urban Food System of Cape Town, South Africa (Crush et al 2017).

The AFSUN report examines the results of a food security survey conducted …

No. 15: The Food Security Implications Of Gendered Access To Education And Employment In Maputo, Cameron Mccordic, Liam Riley, Inês Raimundo

Hungry Cities Partnership

The multiple linkages between gender and household food security in cities have been observed in diverse settings, at multiple scales, and through a variety of disciplinary lenses. The Hungry Cities Partnership is rooted in the importance of inclusive growth of cities, which includes a fundamental concern with genderbased injustices that reduce inclusivity, sustainability and food security by underpinning structural poverty. This discussion paper is motivated by the gap in policy-ready quantitative data needed to identify the ways in which gender inequality, food insecurity, and public policy are interconnected. Analysis of the 2014 survey of household food security in Maputo identified …

No. 22: Predictors Of Household Food Insecurity In Maputo And Matola, Mozambique, Cameron Mccordic, Ezequiel Abrahamo

Hungry Cities Partnership

The rapid growth of Maputo and Matola (neighbouring cities in Southern Mozambique) has dramatically changed each city’s demographic and food insecurity profile. Previous research in Maputo indicates that household access to infrastructure plays an important role in determining vulnerability to food insecurity. This paper investigates (a) whether this relationship is also true of Matola and (b) whether the demographic composition of households plays a role in defining vulnerability to food insecurity in either city. Using household survey data collected by HCP in 2014 in Maputo and Matola, the paper demonstrates that inconsistent access to water, electricity, medical care, cooking fuel …

No. 13: The Growth Of Food Banking In Cities Of The Global South, Daniel N. Warshawsky

Hungry Cities Partnership

As the number and size of food banks increase globally, it is critical to research how food banks fit into existing food systems and their role in reducing food insecurity and food waste. After examining the political ecology of urban food waste in food systems, this discussion paper examines the globalization of food banking and its growth in the Global South. Through a case study of FoodForward SA, it critically analyzes the roles that urban food banks play in cities of the Global South. Since many countries in the South have both the highest levels of food insecurity and the …

No. 11: The State Of Household Food Security In Nairobi, Kenya, Samuel Owuor

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report presents the results of a city-wide household food security survey of 1,434 Nairobi households, conducted by the Hungry Cities Partnership and the University of Nairobi. Among the key findings was that 70% of households in Kenya’s capital experience food insecurity, with one-quarter severely food insecure. As the first city-wide survey of household food security in Nairobi, this report provides researchers and policy-makers with detailed data and information about the overall food security picture, as well as important insights into the operation of the city’s food system. In particular, the report demonstrates the vital importance of Nairobi’s food markets …

No. 08: The Urban Food System Of Windhoek, Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence Kazembe, Jonathan Crush, Jeremy Wagner

Hungry Cities Partnership

The surprisingly high rate of supermarket patronage in low-income areas of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest city, is at odds with conventional wisdom that supermarkets in African cities are primarily patronized by middle and high-income residents and therefore target their neighbourhoods. What is happening in Namibia and other Southern African countries that make supermarkets so much more accessible to the urban poor? What are they buying at supermarkets and how frequently do they shop there? Further, what is the impact of supermarket expansion on informal food vendors? This report, which presents the findings of the South African Supermarkets in Growing …

No. 12: Compounding Vulnerability: A Model Of Urban Household Food Security, Cameron Mccordic

Hungry Cities Partnership

The efficiency of the infrastructure systems in cities will define the extent to which dystopic visions of urban futures become a reality. At the level of the individual household, vulnerability to hazards in cities is defined, in part, by the ability to access essential resources and services. This discussion paper proposes a model to help explain the relationship between access to urban infrastructure systems and household vulnerability to food insecurity. Food access in cities is primarily achieved through food purchases, where households convert assets into food at retail locations. When a household falls into food insecurity through trading household assets …

No. 11: Urban Food Security, Rural Bias And The Global Development Agenda, Jonathan Crush, Liam Riley

Hungry Cities Partnership

This discussion paper sets out the global, African, and South African contexts within which both urban development and food security agendas in Africa are framed. It argues that the pervasive rural bias and anti-urbanism identified in the international and regional food security agendas in the first decade of the 21st century have persisted into the second. In examining whether the last decade has brought any significant changes to the dominant discourse and its accompanying sidelining of urbanization and urban food security in policy debate and formulation, the authors find that there are promising signs for cracks in the edifice but …

No. 10: The Hungry Cities Food Purchases Matrix: A Measure Of Urban Household Food Security And Food System Interactions, Jonathan Crush, Cameron Mccordic

Hungry Cities Partnership

Recent theoretical work has suggested that urban food security is the result of food system interactions. This work highlights the challenge of assessing household-level food insecurity and relating it to the broader food system. One priority is to develop food security metrics that incorporate household interactions with the food system retail environment. The Hungry Cities Food Purchases Matrix (HCFPM) is one such metric that has been developed for situating household food sourcing behaviour within the urban food system. The matrix has been successfully administered in a number of cities in the Global South by the Hungry Cities Partnership. This paper …

No. 09: Comparing Household Food Security In Cities Of The Global South Through A Gender Lens, Liam Riley, Mary Caesar

Hungry Cities Partnership

Understanding the determinants of urban food insecurity requires sensitivity to local cultural contexts and taking into account a globally relevant framework for analysis. A gender lens is amenable to this kind of analysis because it is rooted in local configurations of households, livelihoods and consumption patterns, while also being animated by a longstanding global effort to create a world in which men and women are equal. This discussion paper is aimed at academic researchers and development practitioners concerned with urban food insecurity. It demonstrates the usefulness of a gender lens of analysis for generating new insights and questions about household …