IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2018i1p37-d192282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informal Food Deserts and Household Food Insecurity in Windhoek, Namibia

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Crush

    (Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, ON N2L 6C2, Canada
    University of Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Drive, Cape Town 7535, South Africa)

  • Ndeyapo Nickanor

    (Faculty of Science, University of Namibia, 340 Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue, Windhoek 13301, Namibia)

  • Lawrence Kazembe

    (Department of Population and Statistics, University of Namibia, 340 Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue, Windhoek 13301, Namibia)

Abstract

Informal settlements in rapidly-growing African cities are urban and peri-urban spaces with high rates of formal unemployment, poverty, poor health outcomes, limited service provision, and chronic food insecurity. Traditional concepts of food deserts developed to describe North American and European cities do not accurately capture the realities of food inaccessibility in Africa’s urban informal food deserts. This paper focuses on a case study of informal settlements in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to shed further light on the relationship between informality and food deserts in African cities. The data for the paper was collected in a 2016 survey and uses a sub-sample of households living in shack housing in three informal settlements in the city. Using various standard measures, the paper reveals that the informal settlements are spaces of extremely high food insecurity. They are not, however, food deprived. The proximity of supermarkets and open markets, and a vibrant informal food sector, all make food available. The problem is one of accessibility. Households are unable to access food in sufficient quantity, quality, variety, and with sufficient regularity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Crush & Ndeyapo Nickanor & Lawrence Kazembe, 2018. "Informal Food Deserts and Household Food Insecurity in Windhoek, Namibia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2018:i:1:p:37-:d:192282
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/37/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/37/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leandro Medina & Mr. Andrew W Jonelis & Mehmet Cangul, 2017. "The Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Size and Determinants," IMF Working Papers 2017/156, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Smith, Lisa C. & Alderman, Harold & Aduayom, Dede, 2006. "Food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa: new estimates from household expenditure surveys," Research reports 146, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Fox, Sean, 2014. "The Political Economy of Slums: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 191-203.
    4. Gulyani, Sumila & Talukdar, Debabrata, 2010. "Inside Informality: The Links Between Poverty, Microenterprises, and Living Conditions in Nairobi's Slums," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1710-1726, December.
    5. FAYE Ousmane & BASCHIERI Angela & FALKINGHAM Jane & MUINDI Kanyiva, 2010. "Hunger and Food Insecurity in Nairobi's Slums: An assessment using IRT models'," LISER Working Paper Series 2010-33, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    6. Selma T Karuaihe & Philip R Wandschneider, 2018. "Limited access to services for the urban poor in Windhoek, Namibia," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 466-479, July.
    7. Bruce Frayne, 2007. "Migration and the changing social economy of Windhoek, Namibia," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 91-108.
    8. Haysom, Gareth & Tawodzera, Godfrey, 2018. "“Measurement drives diagnosis and response”: Gaps in transferring food security assessment to the urban scale," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 117-125.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. João Carrilho & Jorge Trindade, 2022. "Sustainability in Peri-Urban Informal Settlements: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-35, June.
    2. Olivia Souza Honório & Paula Martins Horta & Milene Cristine Pessoa & Mariana Zogbi Jardim & Ariene Silva Carmo & Larissa Loures Mendes, 2022. "Food deserts and food swamps in a Brazilian metropolis: comparison of methods to evaluate the community food environment in Belo Horizonte," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(3), pages 695-707, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bennett, John & Levy, Stephanie, 2018. "Family Ceremonies as a Constraint on Informal Sector Investment: The Case of Sénégal," IZA Discussion Papers 11529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Sugata Bag & Suman Seth, 2018. "Does It Matter How We Assess Standard of Living? Evidence from Indian Slums Comparing Monetary and Multidimensional Approaches," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 715-754, November.
    3. Ameye, Hannah & De Weerdt, Joachim & Gibson, John, 2021. "Measuring macro- and micronutrient consumption in multi-purpose surveys: Evidence from a survey experiment in Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Maurice Mutisya & Moses W. Ngware & Caroline W. Kabiru & Ngianga-bakwin Kandala, 2016. "The effect of education on household food security in two informal urban settlements in Kenya: a longitudinal analysis," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 743-756, August.
    5. Michael King, 2012. "The Unbanked Four-Fifths: Informality and Barriers to Financial Services in Nigeria," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp411, IIIS.
    6. Chandan Deuskar, 2020. "Informal urbanisation and clientelism: Measuring the global relationship," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(12), pages 2473-2490, September.
    7. Hannah Ameye & Joachim De Weerdt & John Gibson, 2020. "Measuring Macro- and Micronutrient Intake in Multi-Purpose Surveys: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania," LICOS Discussion Papers 42120, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    8. Azunre, Gideon Abagna & Amponsah, Owusu & Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Mensah, Henry & Braimah, Imoro, 2022. "Urban informalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A solution for or barrier against sustainable city development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Sami Bibi & Massa Coulibaly & John Cockburn & Luca Tiberti, 2009. "L'impact de la hausse des prix des produits alimentaires sur la pauvreté des enfants et les reponses politiques au Mali," Papers inwopa09/60, Innocenti Working Papers.
    10. Blocker, Christopher P. & Ruth, Julie A. & Sridharan, Srinivas & Beckwith, Colin & Ekici, Ahmet & Goudie-Hutton, Martina & Rosa, José Antonio & Saatcioglu, Bige & Talukdar, Debabrata & Trujillo, Carlo, 2013. "Understanding poverty and promoting poverty alleviation through transformative consumer research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1195-1202.
    11. Djesika D Amendah & Steven Buigut & Shukri Mohamed, 2014. "Coping Strategies among Urban Poor: Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, January.
    12. Marivoet, Wim, 2016. "Food markets and nutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004–2005):," IFPRI discussion papers 1566, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Sangeetha Madhavan & Shelley Clark & Sara Schmidt, 2021. "Single mothers coping with food insecurity in a Nairobi slum," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(13), pages 2703-2720, October.
    14. Sean Fox & Robin Bloch & Jose Monroy, 2018. "Understanding the dynamics of Nigeria’s urban transition: A refutation of the ‘stalled urbanisation’ hypothesis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(5), pages 947-964, April.
    15. Andi Syah Putra & Guangji Tong & Didit Okta Pribadi, 2020. "Spatial Analysis of Socio-Economic Driving Factors of Food Expenditure Variation between Provinces in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    16. Georg Meran & Markus Siehlow & Christian von Hirschhausen, 2021. "Pipes, Taps, and Vendors: An Integrated Water Management Approach," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(04), pages 1-29, October.
    17. Fox, Sean, 2014. "The Political Economy of Slums: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 191-203.
    18. Smith, Lisa C. & Wiesmann, Doris, 2007. "Is food insecurity more severe in South Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa?: A comparative analysis using household expenditure survey data," IFPRI discussion papers 712, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Anríquez, Gustavo & Daidone, Silvio & Mane, Erdgin, 2013. "Rising food prices and undernourishment: A cross-country inquiry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 190-202.
    20. Kenneth Harttgen & Stephan Klasen, "undated". "Analyzing Nutritional Impacts of Price and Income Related Shocks in Malawi and Uganda," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2012-014, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2018:i:1:p:37-:d:192282. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.