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The Informal Food Sector and Cohabitation with Supermarkets in Windhoek, Namibia

Urban Forum volume 30, pages 425–442 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Much of the literature on urban food systems has focused on supermarket expansion and their ability to reach urban consumers. However, the current pace of urbanisation and rising urban poverty has been accompanied by a major upsurge in informality and a growing role for the informal food sector. One of the persistent arguments in the supermarkets literature is that the expansion of modern retail undermines the informal food sector. Critics of this argument suggest that there are two conditions under which this may not occur: first, when there is spatial differentiation with supermarkets servicing higher income areas and the informal sector targeting low-income areas. And second, when there is market segmentation when the formal and informal sectors focus on the sale of different product types. This paper examines the case of Windhoek, Namibia, which has undergone a major supermarket revolution in the last two decades. It suggests that the informal food sector is vibrant and growing but that neither explanation fully accounts for its resilience and survival. Instead, by examining the strategies of vendors, it suggests the concept of cohabitation as an alternative explanation. Cohabitation may be a pertinent factor in other supermarket cities as well.

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Funding

The survey discussed in this paper was funded by the Open Society Foundation and the Hungry Cities Partnership with support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) International Partnerships for Sustainable Societies (IPaSS) Program. The writing of the paper was made possible by a grant from the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

    Ndeyapo Nickanor

  2. Balsillie School of International Affairs, 67 Erb St West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 6C2, Canada

    Jonathan Crush

  3. University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jonathan Crush

  4. Department of Statistics and Population Studies, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

    Lawrence Kazembe

Authors
  1. Ndeyapo Nickanor
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  2. Jonathan Crush
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  3. Lawrence Kazembe
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Correspondence to Jonathan Crush.

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Nickanor, N., Crush, J. & Kazembe, L. The Informal Food Sector and Cohabitation with Supermarkets in Windhoek, Namibia. Urban Forum 30, 425–442 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-019-09369-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-019-09369-1

Keywords

  • Informal food sector
  • Urban food system
  • Supermarket revolution
  • Food security
  • Urbanisation
  • Windhoek