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Urbanization, nutrition and development in Southern African cities

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Abstract

This paper draws on exisiting studies and survey data collected from 11 cities in nine Southern African countries by the African Food Security Urban Network in order to explore the relationship between urban poverty and food and nutrition insecurity in Southern Africa. The paper demonstrates that poverty underpins the high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition evident amongst the urban poor in Southern Africa; therefore, access to food, and not availability, is at the heart of the urbanisation-nutrition-development nexus. The paper reviews the state of knowledge about food insecurity and the double burden of nutritional diseases in the urban areas of Southern Africa and lays out an agenda for future research to fill significant knowledge gaps.

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Acknowledgments

The publication of this paper was made possible by funding from the Canadian Government through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) under its University Partners in Cooperation and Development (UPCD) Tier One Program. We wish to thank our colleagues in AFSUN for their assistance. Appreciation is extended to the referees of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Bruce Frayne

  2. Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, 57 Erb Street West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 6C2, Canada

    Jonathan Crush

  3. Division of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, South Africa

    Milla McLachlan

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  1. Bruce Frayne
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Correspondence to Bruce Frayne.

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Frayne, B., Crush, J. & McLachlan, M. Urbanization, nutrition and development in Southern African cities. Food Sec. 6, 101–112 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-013-0325-1

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