Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:08:23.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Coping with food poverty in cities: The case of urban agriculture in Glen Norah Township in Harare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2015

Steven Masvaure
Steven Masvaure*
Affiliation:
University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) and Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South Africa.
*
* Corresponding author: smasvaure@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The focus of this study is on urban agriculture which is a common informal sector activity across most sub-Saharan African cities. Urban agriculture is more common among poor urban households, and acts as a poverty coping mechanism. Poor households often spend more than 60% of their income on food alone. The major thrust of this study was to understand the underlying mechanisms driving farming in cities. A mixed method research approach was adopted and data was collected from 103 households in Glen Norah Township in Harare, Zimbabwe through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations. Arising from analysis of the data, the Urban Livelihoods Coping Model (ULCM) is proposed in order to explain the phenomenon of urban agriculture in African cities. This model acknowledges the fact that the socio-economic conditions and the socio-historical context of Zimbabwe and other African countries today is as a result of the influence of ‘Western leaning’ development policies influenced by modernization and associated theories. These theories combined with cultural factors and the impact of Structural Adjustment Policies resulted in the present situation where urban agriculture plays a critical role in the survival of the urban poor as a coping mechanism against food poverty. The ULCM ascribes the emergence of urban agriculture to necessity, ability and opportunity. The significance of this study is that it will contribute to understanding the socio-economic role of urban agriculture and how it can be factored into the urban planning systems of developing countries.

Keywords

urban agriculturefood povertylivelihoodsurban livelihoods coping model
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 202 - 213
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benson, C. and Twigg, J. 2007. Tools for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction: Guidance Notes for Development Organizations. ProVention Consortium Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Bernstein, A. 2009. Land reform in South Africa: A 21st perspective. The Centre for Development and Enterprise. Research report 14.Google Scholar
Boateng, R.A. 2002. Urban cultivation in Accra: An examination of the nature, practises, problems, potentials and planning implications. Habitat International 26:591–607.Google Scholar
Bratton, M. 1987. The comrades and the countryside: The politics of agricultural policy in Zimbabwe. World Politics 39(2):174–202.Google Scholar
Chambers, R. and Conway, G. 1992. Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century. IDS Discussion Paper 296. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK.Google Scholar
Choguill, C. 1995. Urban agriculture and cities in the developing world. Habitat International 19(2):149–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Haan, L.J. 2012. The livelihood approach: A critical exploration. Erdkunde 66(4):345–357.Google Scholar
de Wet, C. and Holbrook, G. 1997. Regionalisation of the household: a temporary phase, or a longer term trend? In De Wet, C. and Whisson, M. (eds). From Reserve to Region. Apartheid and social change in the Keiskammahoek District of (Former) Ciskei 1950–1990. Institute for Social Economic Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.Google Scholar
Drakakis-Smith, D. 1992. Urban food distribution in Asia and Africa. The Geographical Journal 157(1):51–61.Google Scholar
Drakakis-Smith, D.T., Bowyer-Bower, T.A.S., and Tevera, D. 1995. Urban poverty and urban agriculture: An overview of the linkages in Harare. Habitat International 19(2):183–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drakakis-Smith, D.W. 2000. Third World Cities. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Frank, A.G. 1978. Dependent Accumulation and Underdevelopment. McMillan, London.Google Scholar
Freeman, D.B. 1993. Survival strategy or business training ground? The significance of urban agriculture for the advancement of women in African cities. African Studies Review 36(3):1–22.Google Scholar
Graham, E. 2005. Philosophies underlying human geography research. In Flowerdew, R. and Martin, D. (eds). Methods in Human Geography. Prentice Hall, Harlow.Google Scholar
Grossman, D. 1996. Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Africa: Proceedings of a Workshop, 23–27 June, Netanya, Israel.Google Scholar
Kaag, M. 2004. Ways forward in livelihood research. In Kalb, D., Pansters, W., and Siebers, H. (eds). Globalization and Development. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands. p. 49–74.Google Scholar
Kitchen, R. and Tate, N.J. 2000. Conducting Research in Human Geography: Theory, Methodology and Practice. Prentice Hall, Harlow.Google Scholar
Krantz, L. 2001. The sustainable livelihood approach to poverty reduction. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency 2:42–98.Google Scholar
Long, N. 1977. An Introduction to the Sociology of Rural Development. Tavistock Publications Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Mbiba, B. 1995. Urban Agriculture in Zimbabwe: Implications for Urban Management and Poverty. Avebury, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Mbiba, B. 2000. Urban agriculture in Harare: Between suspicion and repression. In Bakker, N., Dubbeling, M., Gündel, S., Sabel-Koschella, U., and de Zeeuw, H. (eds). Growing Cities, Growing Food: Urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda – A Reader on Urban Agriculture. GTZ, Feldafing, p. 285–301.Google Scholar
Meikles, S. 2002. The urban context and poor people. In Rakodi, C. and Lloyd-Jones, L. (eds). Urban Livelihoods. Earthscan, London.Google Scholar
Mlambo, A.S. 1997. The Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare.Google Scholar
Mougeot, J.A. (ed.) 2005. Agropolis: The Social, Political and Environmental Dimensions of Urban Agriculture. Earthscan, London.Google Scholar
Mougeot, J.A. 2006. Growing Better Cities—Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Development. IDRC, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Obosu-Mensah, K. 1999. Food Production in Urban Areas. Ashgate, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Potts, D. and Mutambirwa, C. 1991. High density housing in Zimbabwe: Commodification and overcrowding. Third World Planning Review 13(1):1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, D. and Mutambirwa, C. 1998. ‘Basics are now a luxury’: Perceptions of structural adjustment's impact on rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe. Environment and Urbanisation 10(1):55–76.Google Scholar
Rakodi, C. 1997. The Urban Challenge in Africa. UN University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rakodi, C. 1998. Review of the poverty relevance of the peri-urban interface production system research. Report for the DFID Natural Resources Systems Research Programme (PD70/7E0091), second draft.Google Scholar
Rakodi, C. 2002. A livelihoods approach: Conceptual issues and definitions. In Rakodi, C. and Lloyd-Jones, T. (eds). Urban Livelihoods. Earthscan, London.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1985. Well-being, agency and freedom: The Dewey lectures 1984. The Journal of Philosophy 82(4):169–221.Google Scholar
Smit, J., Nasr, J., and Ratta, A. 2001. Urban Agriculture Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities. United Nations Development Agency, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Stevens, P. and Dietsche, E. 2008. Resource curse: An analysis of causes, experiences and possible ways forward. Energy Policy 36(1):56–65.Google Scholar
The Zimbabwean. November 25 2011. Available from: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk (accessed May 5, 2015).Google Scholar