Urban Agricultural Activities and Women's Strategies in Sustaining Family Livelihoods in Harare, Zimbabwe (original) (raw)
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Urban agriculture is a common strategy used by urban dwellers in their endeavor to pursue sustainable food security. This article analyzed the practice of urban agriculture by urban dwellers in the city of Gweru in Zimbabwe, with a specific focus on Mkoba suburb. This qualitative study sought as its objectives, to discuss factors that have contributed to the growth of urban agriculture; to analyze how urban agriculture contributes to the well-being of urban dwellers; to examine the legal framework governing urban agriculture in Zimbabwe; and, to ascertain challenges faced by urban farmers in pursuit of urban agriculture. Purposive sampling was used and data were gathered from 26 participants through interviews and focus group discussions. 27 The findings were that the growth of urban agriculture is influenced by rapid population growth, high levels of poverty, high food prices, and high rate of unemployment. The study further found that urban agriculture promotes food security, provides employment and encourages savings. These Acts do not support, but impede the practice of urban agriculture. There are also challenges that impede the practice of urban agriculture, including the absence of supportive legislation, lack of support from central and local governments, and lack of funding. The study concluded that urban agriculture is an important practice that cannot be dispensed with, as strengthens food security of urban dwellers. The study recommends enactment of supportive legislation, provision of small grants to urban farmers, and creation of farmers associations. Future research should focus on ways of improving the livelihoods of urban farmers. Urban farmers and key stakeholders are largely expected to benefit from the study.
2012
This is a journal article,This research explores the contribution, which is made by women to food security and livelihoods of families in the city of Bulawayo through urban agriculture. Women constitute the marginalised group in human society and their contribution to the society and well-being is slowly being realised as evidenced by campaigns to put them in positions of power. Rapid urbanization in Zimbabwe coupled with the economic crisis, which rocked the country between 2000 and 2012 had resulted in unemployment, which in turn created poverty and food shortages. In this research, primary data was collected through observations and interviews from people who practice urban agriculture in the city of Bulawayo. Interviews of key informants were carried out with the Bulawayo City Council staff members, government officials and other stakeholders who are concerned with the practice of urban agriculture in the city. Random and purposive sampling procedures were chosen to select resid...
2014
Poverty and food insecurity are some of the problems facing the urban population in Zimbabwe today. Urban agriculture holds promise at solving these intractable problems. Urban agriculture is a sustainable form of agricultural activity that has significant potential for alleviating malnutrition and food insecurity in Zimbabwe. The demand for food due to increased urbanization is predicted to grow faster than production resulting in a growing food deficit and insecurity in urban areas. Due to recent trends where urbanization is becoming a major socioeconomic factor driving the increasing demand for both crop and livestock products due to concentrated rapidly increasing population, rising income and change in life style, food production need to be improved. To satisfy the food needs of the growing urban population new approaches to food production need to be employed. The discussion attempt to explore the role of urban agriculture in meeting the food demands of rapidly increasing urban population. It is against this background of increasing urban poverty that this discussion puts forward some suggestions for promoting urban agriculture. Urban agriculture should be considered as a normal component of agriculture system and urban development, which has the capacity to improve nutrition and food security. It is very much associated with increased food security as it lends itself to the majority of urban poor. Urban agriculture has diverse economic, social and ecological functions and can be valued as one of the agricultural sectors having enormous untapped potential to contribute to food security. The rapidly growing urban population will drive major social and economic changes which will lead to evolution of transformed urban food production systems as the most efficient and sustainable means of food production. Urban agriculture will be the new approach to food production, however best provided incentives to urban farmers are credited by formulating urban policy fair to urban food producers. Strategies which foster gender equality in urban food production will impact positively on food production, which may translate into expanded food production to meet the needs of the growing urban population for the majority of residents are failing to make ends meet. On the other hand urbanization has created a growing affluent population which demands more food and a greater variety. Hence, it is envisaged the promotion of urban agriculture will address the nutritional needs and food security of the urban poor. Given the economic, social and ecological advantages of urban farming it is arguably deserves even greater attention than the present scenario. This discussion explores the opportunities of urban agriculture as an alternative food production source in solving the perpetual food insecurity challenges in Zimbabwe.
As cities expand and develop there is an increasing concern for a sustainable growth which is marked by real income growth, equitable income distribution among citizens and minimal environmental degradation—the so called sustainable urban development. Zimbabwe and many other developing countries have been characterized with rapid urban growth, unemployment, poor service deliveries, inequitable income distribution, escalating urban poverty, pollution and other forms of land degradation—a development that is clearly unsustainable. Urban agriculture is one of the strategies that potentially can contribute towards sustainable urban development, albeit it is little recognized. This study, based on 150 urban households in Epworth, Harare, gives a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the contribution of urban agriculture to sustainable urban development in the context of social inclusion, increasing household income and food access and availability. The major findings were that urban agriculture positively contributes to social inclusion, household income and also food access and availability. Urban agriculture had the largest proportions of the old-aged, female headed, singles or divorced, widowed, lowly educated and informally employed households with higher dependency ratios and household sizes. The practice contributed 74 percent of household income (US$820) and saved US$12.69 on weekly consumption from subsistence in season. Maize grain harvests averagely lasted 4.14 months. The study also shows that urban agriculture increases seasonal consumption of beans, peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin fruit and leaves. The study concludes by appreciating the role of UA in ensuring food security and social inclusion as a step towards sustainable urban development and recommends the need for increasing access to land by the poor households to improve their livelihoods, market and enterprise development and real gross domestic product at large.
Urban Agriculture and Poverty Mitigation in Zimbabwe: Prospects and Obstacles in Bulawayo Townships
Journal of Human Ecology, 2013
This paper examines the role and contribution of urban agriculture towards household food security, employment creation and income generation among low-income working class and urban poor households i n Bulawayo townships.This is done within the context of a stabilizing Zimbabwean socioeconomic polity after a decade of stagflation and political crisis. It also examines factors that inhibit the growth and increased contribution of urban agriculture to the urban poor's livelihoods and proffers evidence-based policy recommendations on how urban agriculture can be transformed and integrated into wider urban planning and development.This would help to optimise the productive capacity of urban agriculture for the benefit of the urban poor and urban food system. Using a qualitative approach, non-probability sampling was employed which involved the use of purposive sampling and the snowball technique to identify respondents. In-depth semi-structured interviews were the primary data collection instrument aptly aided by non-participant observations. The study establishes that urban food production significantly contributes to household food access and security. This production entitlement is improving dietary diversity and nutritional intake. It also finds that a few farmers produce surplus which is traded i n informal township markets. Income raised-which gives these farmers exchange entitlement-is used for other household necessities such as basic medication, transport fares and other food commodities. Despite the evident benefits of urban agriculture to the farmers, its potential is constrained by a complex of factors that include land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, small plot sizes, inadequate capital for optimising plot productivity and ambivalent application of urban land-use laws.
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014
A study was carried out in Eiffel Flats suburb in Kadoma City to investigate the impact of urban agriculture on poverty alleviation. The objectives of the study were to investigate major reasons behind urban agriculture (UA), establishing social classes and gender involved and identifying the relationship between urban agriculture and a subsequent poverty reduction. A sample size of 98 respondents was randomly chosen from the sample. Questionnaires, personal interviews and observation were used for data collection. The major reasons behind urban agriculture were: low incomes, unemployment and large families. The study revealed that UA alleviated poverty because residents produce food, generate income from surplus and save household income which is channeled to other needs. The age group of 31-60 with women dominating was most active in the practice and both the employed and unemployed were involved in UA. Kadoma city council supports UA by creating agrozones. The major limitations of UA in Eiffel Flats are land shortage and inadequate resources such as inputs and draft power. The council is recommended to create more agro-zones and to register farmers with AGRITEX department so that they could benefit from government supplied inputs as well as technical knowhow from the local extension services.
Enhancing Food Security and Economic Welfare Through Urban Agriculture in Zimbabwe
Despite the perceived white-collar and industry-based formal employment gravity of urban areas of developing countries, poverty and food insecurity persists. Therefore, urban agriculture, a predominantly rural economic activity, emerges as a lucrative livelihood strategy used to curb urban food insecurity. We assessed the contributions of urban agriculture to household food security and income in Cold Stream, a low income residential area in Chinhoyi town in Zimbabwe. We administered 20 questionnaires to a convenient sample of urban farmers, interviewed five purposively sampled informants from key institutions and carried out three temporally spaced fieldworks. The results clearly show that urban agriculture is a prominent livelihood of the poor unemployed majority (53%) who dominate the economic category. Key informants interviews indicated that although local non-governmental organisations boost urban agriculture by providing farm inputs and technical advice free of charge, there ...
Urban Poverty and Urban Agriculture: An Overview of the Linkages in Harare
The urban poor throughout most of Africa have experienced increasing difficulties over recent years as a result of the imposition of structural adjustment programmes. One of the main coping mechanisms has been increased self-help in satisfying basic household needs. Food is one of these basic needs and urban agriculture, both legal and illegal, has grown as a consequence of the difficult economic climate. As yet relatively few studies have attempted to assess the role that urban agriculture plays or might play in social and environmental terms. This paper reviews the situation in Harare, Zimbabwe as the contextual setting for an on-going investigation of these two important considerations, placing the present policy responses in their appropriate historical and economic framework, and assessing the research issues which need to be addressed.
Urban Agriculture and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) in Zimbabwe
nternatiInternational Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2023
This paper explored the efficacy of urban farming in alleviating hunger in Chitungwiza Municipality, Zimbabwe. This study adopted the Sustainable livelihood approach because heads of households use available resources and assets in their community to embark on urban farming. This study is important because limited studies have researched the effectiveness of urban farming in ending hunger in food-insecure households in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach was employed, with focus group discussions and interviews as data collection methods. The same consisted of 36 participants (heads of households, social welfare officials, and municipal officials) who were purposively selected for this study. The key findings are that urban farmers are growing crops such as maize, sweet potatoes and vegetables produced and others are engaged in animal husbandry such as keeping chickens, goats, and birds. The above farming outputs are for household consumption, and the surplus is sold to increase household income. Furthermore, the sampled participants revealed that they face economic and social challenges that hinder their sustainable livelihoods. The recommendations drawn from the findings were provided to the Chitungwiza Municipality and Department of Social Development.