Cameron McCordic

The Mythology of Urban Agriculture

The literature on Urban Agriculture (UA) as a food security and poverty alleviation strategy is bifurcating into two distinct positions. The first is that UA is a viable and effective pro-poor development strategy; the second is that UA has demonstrated limited positive outcomes on either food security or poverty. These two positions are tested against data generated by the African Urban Food Security Network’s (AFSUN) baseline food security survey undertaken in 11 Southern African cities. At the aggregate level the analysis shows that (1) urban context is an important predictor of rates of household engagement in UA—the economic, political and historical circumstances and conditions of a city are key factors that either promote or hinder UA activity and scale; (2) UA is not an effective household food security strategy for poor urban households—the analysis found few significant relationships between UA participation and food security; and (3) household levels of earnings and land holdings may mediate UA impacts on food security—wealthier households derive greater net food security benefits from UA than do poor households. These findings call into question the potential benefits of UA as a broad urban development strategy and lend support to the position that UA has limited poverty alleviation benefits under current modes of practice and regulation.

Household vulnerability to food price increases: the 2008 crisis in urban Southern Africa

Volatile food prices represent a common hazard to the food security of poor urban households. In trying to understand the impact of this hazard, income poverty is widely accepted as the principal predictive variable. But could other variables be important in understanding household vulnerability to food price shocks? This analysis uses survey data collected from 11 cities in Southern Africa by the African Food Security Urban Network during the 2008 food price crisis. As expected, the data show that household income is a significant predictor of the negative impact of rising food prices on household food security. However, other variables are significant predictors of household vulnerability to food insecurity as a result of food price increases. The analysis demonstrated how these diverse variables facilitated our classification of different households according to food price shocks using a CHAID decision tree. Demonstrating that household income is not the only significant predictor of household vulnerability to food price volatility, these findings broaden our understanding of the complex factors that can predispose households to food insecurity in the context of rising food prices.

Urban shocks: the relationship between food prices and food security in Lesotho

ABSTRACT The 2008 Food Price Crisis is estimated to have affected millions, forcing households into deeper poverty and food insecurity. However, nationally aggregated surveys demonstrate a remarkable degree of heterogeneity in the food insecurity impacts of high food prices. This investigation uses household survey data collected from the city of Maseru, Lesotho, during the 2008 Food Price Crisis to determine whether the impact of food prices was associated with household food insecurity. The investigation found that, while going without food due to food prices was associated with reduced dietary diversity, there was a much stronger association between food price impacts and reduced food access.

Wet markets, supermarkets and alternative food sources: consumers’ food access in Nanjing, China

ABSTRACT Based on a survey of 1,210 households in Nanjing, China, the article looks at the purchasing frequency of various food items in different food retail outlets, the accessibility of these outlets and the use of different food sources. We found that while supermarkets are the top venues for purchasing staple grains, dairy products and processed food, wet markets still prevail for purchasing fresh produce and meat. The data also depict the complexity of food sources beyond conventional retailing outlets. We recommend that Chinese food security policies be broadened to incorporate urban food environment considerations and diverse food sources.