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Innovative Food Procurement Strategies of Women Living in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

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Abstract

The combination of persistent levels of inequality and poverty, alongside the advent of rapid urbanisation, mean urban food insecurity is set to be one of the biggest development challenges of this century. As women play a crucial role in the food security status of urban poor households, understanding and supporting the life-sustaining food procurement practices used by women ought to be a key strategy in addressing urban food insecurity. Particularly, the paper draws on primary qualitative research I conducted with women from Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s largest informal settlement. This case study explored the beliefs, practices and preferences that govern women’s food procurement choices. The study found that women adopt a range of innovative food procurement strategies, which significantly improve household food security prospects. These include buying in bulk, skilfully navigating the informal and the formal food economies, utilising their social networks and trading off food with other important non-food expenses. Understanding these practices can provide greater insight into how best to enhance urban food security. The implications are that women need to be better supported rather than, as most mainstream programmes suggest, encouraged to take on more work outside the household, whilst still faced with the lion’s share of housework.

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Notes

  1. Khayelitsha is an informal settlement situated on the South Eastern part of the city of Cape Town’s municipal area, it has the largest concentration of poverty in the city (Smit et al. 2016).

  2. The validated Community Child Hunger Identification Project method was used to measure the level of food insecurity (Wehler et al. 1992). The method uses eight occurrence questions that represent a generally increasing level of food insecurity (Shisana et al. 2014).

  3. The survey (n = 1060 households) used the validated Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The HFIAS score is a continuous measure of the degree of food insecurity in the household in the previous month (Frayne et al. 2010).

  4. Grants are income received by vulnerable groups from the South African government in order to mitigate the impact of poverty and redistribute wealth (Neves et al. 2009). The three main types of grants and the amounts received at the time of writing are child support grants (R330), disability grants (R1 415) and old-age pension (R1 415) (Satumba et al. 2017).

  5. A taxi in South Africa refers to a shared 16-seater minibus.

  6. Fruit & Veg City is a large retailer that focuses on the sale of fresh produce. The company’s name has changed to Food Lover’s Market.

  7. Shoprite is South Africa’s largest retailer, which specifically targets price-sensitive customers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like thank the research participants for their willingness to participate in the study.

Funding

This study was supported by the African Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ACCAI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, 7530, South Africa

    Robyn Bowden

  2. Food Systems Centre, Sustainability Institute, Stellenbosch University, Lynedoch Road, Lynedoch, Stellenbosch, 7603, South Africa

    Etai Even-Zahav & Candice Kelly

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  1. Robyn Bowden
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  2. Etai Even-Zahav
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Correspondence to Robyn Bowden.

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Bowden, R., Even-Zahav, E. & Kelly, C. Innovative Food Procurement Strategies of Women Living in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Urban Forum 29, 315–332 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-018-9338-3

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