Food Security in Africa’s Secondary Cities:

No. 1 Mzuzu, Malawi PresentationoffindingsfromthehouseholdfoodsecuritysurveyconductedinFebruary2017bythe“ConsumingUrbanPoverty2(CUP2)”projectincollaborationwiththeUniversityof

Livingstonia,WilfridLaurierUniversity,andtheAfricanFoodSecurityUrbanNetwork.

Fullreportavailablefordownloadat:http://www.afsun.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AFSUN27.pdf.

FundingprovidedbytheSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncilofCanadaInsightGrantsProgramme

QueenElizabethScholars–HungryCitiesPartnership

Consuming Urban Poverty 2

• Buildingonrelatedresearchonurbanfoodsecurity

•  HungryCitiesPartnershipwww.hungrycities.net

•  AfricanFoodSecurityUrbanNetwork(AFSUN)www.afsun.org/publications

•  ConsumingUrbanPoverty(CUP)-foodandpovertyinsecondarycities-Zimbabwe,Zambia,andKenya

CUP2 Locations Dschang,WestRegion,Cameroon

Mzuzu,NorthernRegion,Malawi

Oshakati-Ongwediva-OdangwaCorridor,OshanaRegion,Namibia

CUP2 -Goals

Contributetothreebodiesofscholarship:• Urbangeographicaltheoryfromthe“South”

• SecondarycityurbanizationinAfrica• SecondarycityfoodsystemsinAfrica

Connectionsforpolicyinnovation:• Theoretical&empiricalinsightsappliedtopracticalproblems

• Comparativelessonsacrossurbancasestudies

• Connectinggovernanceprocesses&decisionsacrossscales

Mzuzu Survey - Methods •  February2017,910Households,English

andChitumbuka

•  FoodInsecurity;FoodSources;HouseholdMemberData;HouseholdData;SocialGrants;Rural-UrbanLinkagesandFoodTransfers;IndigenousFoodConsumption

•  SamplingframebasedonproportionatepopulationbyWard(ODK)

•  Householdincludedpeoplewhoeatfromthesamepotandsleepinthesamedwellingatleastsixmonthsoftheyearonaverage

Í Projects (/) Support (http://support.kobotoolbox.org/)

back to project (/cup2mzuzu/forms/aGsDG2LAeEVSadRRNVeF6H)Tumbuka Ý

View By Ý

(https://kf.kobotoolbox.org#/library)

Results - Household

Characteristics

• Average:4.8members•  ~50%ofhouseholdmembersunderage20• Birthplaceofhouseholdheads:•  41%-ruralareainMalawi•  56%-urbanareainMalawi(includingMzuzu)•  2%-outsideMalawi

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Nuclear

Extended

FemaleCentered

MaleCentered

HOUSEHOLDTYPES(%)

Gender

•  Foodresponsibilitiesfallmainlytowomenexceptforpurchasingfood:

•  82%offemaleheadsand18%ofmaleheadspreparefood•  22%ofteenagegirlsand53%ofteenageboysdonofood-relatedchores•  Maleheadslikelytopurchasefood(77%)orprovidemoneyforfood(94%)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

NoFormalEducation Primary Secondary Post-Secondary

EducationLevelsofHouseholdHeads(%)

Male Female

Household Economies* • Meanmonthlyincome: MWK93,251• Medianmonthlyincome:

MWK30,000

• Mostcommonexpenses“foodandgroceries”MWK25,984“fuel” MWK5,618“education” MWK49,459

*Aboutoneinthreerespondentsprovidedhouseholdincomedata

0

204060

80100120

140160180

1 2 3 4 5

Food

& G

roce

ries E

xpen

ditu

re %

of

Inco

me

Income Quintile

Mean ratio Median rat io

TopIncomeSources(%)

InformalWageWork FormalWageWork InformalBusiness

Lived Poverty Index •  Meanscore:0.8/4.0

•  Nodifferencebetweenmaleandfemaleheaded

•  Youth-headed(headisunder30)worseoffthanhouseholdsheadedbyolderpeople(littledifferenceaboveage30) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Enoughfoodtoeat?

Cleanwaterforhomeuse?

Medicineormedicaltreatment?

Electricityinyourhome?

Enoughfueltocookfood?

Acashincome?

Overthepastyear,howoften,ifever,haveyouoryourhouseholdgonewithout...

Never Justonceortwice Severaltimes Manytimes Always

Food Security and Households Results

•  Householdtype•  Femalecentredmostfoodinsecuretype•  Malecentredmostfoodsecuretype

•  AgeofHouseholdHead•  Householdsheadedbyolderpeople(over55)mostfoodinsecure•  Householdsheadedbyyoungerpeople(under30)mostfoodsecure

•  Higherincomequintilesmorefoodsecure,exceptforlowestincomequintilebeingmorefoodsecurethansecondlowest

•  Householdswithincomefromformalwageworkwerefarmorefoodsecurethanhouseholdswithoutincomefromformalwagework

Household Food Insecurity Access Scale

Africancomparisonsofcity-widemeanHFIASscores(higherscore=highfoodinsecurity):•  8.5–Oshakati•  8.0–Dschang•  6.7–Mzuzu•  6.5–Maputo•  5.8–Nairobi

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Worryingaboutnothavingenoughfood

Noteatingpreferredfoods

Eatingalimitedvarietyoffoods

Eatingunwantedfoods

Eatingsmallermealsthannecessary

Eatingfewermealsthannormal

Havingnofoodinthehouseofanykind

Goingtosleephungry

Goingawholedayandnightwithouteatinganything

Often(morethan10times) Sometimes(3-10times)Rarely(1-2times) Never

Household Dietary Diversity Score Africancomparisonofcity-widemeanHDDscores(higherscore=highdietarydiversity):6.2–Mzuzu6.0–Nairobi5.1–Dschang4.8–Oshakati4.1-Maputo

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12%ofH

ouseho

lds

HouseholdDietaryDiversityScore

Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence BasedontheHFIASQuestionsandgivinggreatertoweighttomoresevereexperiencesoffoodinsecurity,assignshouseholdstooneoffourcategories:

•  FoodSecure(28%)•  MildlyFoodInsecure

(12%)

•  ModeratelyFoodInsecure(15%)

•  SeverelyFoodInsecure(45%)

Foodsecure

Mildlyfoodinsecure

Moderatelyfoodinsecure

Severelyfoodinsecure

Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning

ThemeanMAHFPscorewas11.0monthsoutof12

Mosthouseholds(58%)haddifficultyaccessingfoodinJanuaryandabouthalf(48%)inFebruary

Thetopreasonforinadequatefoodwas“lackofcash”

Thetopfoodsthatweredifficulttoaccesswerefoodsmadefromgrains(includingmaizeandrice),meatandmeatproducts,anddairyproducts

Food Sources

•  Supermarket,MainMarket,VigwagwaMarketmorelikelyusedbyfoodsecurehouseholds•  Smallshops,streetsellers,informalmarketsmorelikelyusedbyfoodinsecurehouseholds•  Topreasonforshoppingatsupermarkets:agreatervarietyoffood•  Topreasonfornotshoppingatsupermarkets:supermarketsdonotprovidecredit

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

SmallShops

MainMarket

VigwagwaMarket

Supermarkets

MajorityofHouseholdFoodAccessLocations(%)

Food Purchase Frequency Foodinsecurehouseholdspurchasesugarandcookingoilmorefrequentlythanfoodsecurehouseholds

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tea/coffee

Freshmeat

Rice

Freshfish

Maizemeal

Eggs

Sugar

Driedfish

Cookingoil

Fresh/cookedvegetables

Atleast5daysaweek Atleastonceaweek

Atleasttwiceamonth Atleastonceamonth

Urban Agriculture •  38%ofhouseholdsproducesomeoftheirownfoodinthecity

•  Householdsgrowingfoodinthecityareslightlymorefoodsecure

•  Mostcropsproducedonownhousingplot

•  Maizeisthemostpopularcrop

•  Localchickenisthemostpopularlivestock 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Farmingisforruralpeopleonly

Wehavenolandonwhichtogrowfood

Wehavenointerestingrowingfood

Welacktheskillstogrowfood

Wedonothaveaccesstoinputs(seeds,water,fertilizer)

Wedonothavethetimeorlabour

Itiseasiertobuyourfoodthangrowit

Peoplewouldstealwhateverwegrow

Agree Disagree

Reasonsfornotparticipatinginurbanagriculture

Rural Agriculture •  35%ofhouseholdsproducesomeofthefoodtheyconsumeonruralfarms

•  Maizeisthemostpopularbutthereisawidevarietyofcrops

•  Highincomehouseholdswerethemostlikelyincomegrouptoproducefoodonruralfarms

•  Householdsproducingfoodonruralfarmsweremuchmorefoodsecureonaveragethanthosethatdidnot

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 2 3 4 5

%ofH

ouseho

ldsG

rowingSomeof

TheirF

oodinRuralAreas

IncomeQuintile

Food Transfers

•  28%ofhouseholdsreceivedfoodtransfers

•  Mostfoodtransferscamefromruralrelatives

•  Themostcommonfoodtransferredwasmaize

Importanceoffoodtransfersamongtransfer-receivinghouseholds

Notimportantatall

Somewhatimportant

Important

VeryImportant

Criticaltooursurvival

Indigenous Food Consumption

•  Topfoods:Nkhowani(66%);Therere(63%);Bondwe(57%);Mapeyala(55%);Masuku(54%);Mphalata(40%)

•  Topfoodsources:Marketorstreetsellerinthecity;bondwemostlikelytobe“collectedinthecity”;mathyokolomostlikelytobe“collectedinaruralarea”

•  Topreasonsforconsuming:“nutritionorhealthreasons”;“asnackbetweenmeals”;tastepreference

Conclusions & Future

Directions

•  ThisreportmarksthebeginningofaseriesofstudiesonfoodandurbanizationinAfrica’ssecondarycities.

-InequalityexistsinMzuzu-Foodpolicycanimpactpublichealth,inclusiveness,andecologicalsustainability.

•  Nextsteps:•  Seekingfeedbackfromstakeholders•  Relateddoctoralandqualitativeresearch•  ComparativeworkwithCameroon,Namibia&otherAFSUN&HCPcities•  Vendor/informalfoodsystemsurvey•  Policyworkshops