In the context of rapid urbanisation in Democratic Republic of Congo, increasing population density in Kinshasa is associated with inequalities, poverty, environmental degradation, socio-economic tension, spontaneous settlements and sprawl. Rapid urban growth without planning in some areas and with limited employment underlies negative health outcomes. The author points to sustainable urbanisation as a priority, with a need to reconsider urbanisation processes to stimulate economic growth and mobilise resources at local, national and global levels. In this paper, the author reviews approaches to urban planning that balance development and the transformation of the city. He presents urban renewal as remedial action holding opportunities to improve environmental and social quality.
Poverty and health
The number of people living in urban areas is rising rapidly in Southern Africa. By mid-century, the region is expected to be 60% urban. Rapid urbanisation is leading to growing food insecurity in the region’s towns and cities. This paper presents the results of the first ever regional study of the prevalence of food insecurity in Southern Africa. The AFSUN food security household survey was conducted simultaneously in 2008-9 in 11 cities in eight Southern African Development Community countries. The results confirm high levels of food insecurity amongst the urban poor in terms of food availability, accessibility, reliability and dietary diversity. The survey provides important insights into the causes of food insecurity and the kinds of households that are most vulnerable to food insecurity. It also shows the heavy reliance of urban poor people on informal food sources and the growing importance of supermarket chains.
The new international food security agenda focuses almost exclusively on raising food production by small rural farmers (something that has preoccupied rural development ‘experts’ for decades without success). The authors of this paper argue that there is a very real danger that this approach will be transferred uncritically to urban areas in the form of technical inputs for poor urban households to grow more food for themselves and for market. There is already an emerging focus on the “technical” aspects of urban farming and how these can be supported and enhanced through strategic interventions such as the promotion and adoption of innovative and appropriate urban farming technologies. However, as elsewhere, such technocratic ‘solutions’ are likely to fail if they do not first examine why so few poor households in southern Africa currently grow any of their own food. Agriculture is rarely recognised as a legitimate land use activity in urban plans or municipal designs. For urban farmers, this means that land is scarce and they often ruffle the feathers of officials and police by establishing their farming activities wherever they can, and urban farmers are often harassed by municipal authorities. The authors conclude that comprehensive, systematic research into the links between urban agriculture, food security and health/nutrition could go a long way to easing such institutional and political obstacles so that city farming can meet its full potential in Southern Africa.
In Africa, agricultural land covers less than 15% of the land area, yet demand from transnational companies is increasing for arable terrain. This demand is driven by the assumption that biofuels are a viable long-term solution to current energy and ecological challenges, combined with a decline in land allocated to agriculture in developed countries. The inclusion of biofuels as part of the green economy agenda jeopardises the immediate and long-term food security of many regions in the developing world, according to this paper. In sub-Saharan Africa, rising food prices, land grabs, and precarious and informal labour conditions are key social threats linked to the emphasis on biofuel production. In Africa, a region already under pressure from population growth, famine, drought and conflict, increases in biofuel production and concomitant land grabs can only contribute to weakening food security and keeping achievement of the Millennium Development Goals far beyond reach.
This study aimed to assess the effect of nutritional supplementation to HIV infected lactating mothers on nutritional and health status of mothers and their infants. It took the form of a randomised controlled clinical trial to study the impact of nutritional supplementation on breastfeeding mothers. Measurements included anthropometry; body composition indicators; CD4 count, haemoglobin and albumin; as well as incidence rates of opportunistic infections; depression and quality of life scores. Infant measurements included anthropometry, development and rates of infections.c The researchers found that the supplement made no significant impact on any maternal or infant outcomes. However in the small group of mothers with low BMI, the intake of supplement was significantly associated with preventing loss of lean body mass. There was no significant impact of supplementation on the infants.
In the run up to the 2011 United Nations climate conference – hosted in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 1 December – Oxfam supported communities to speak out about the impact that climate change is having on their lives. In drought-prone areas of Kenya, Oxfam worked with communities to organise climate hearings. This document reports that at time of writing four million Kenyans faced hunger as a result of failed rains. The northern regions of Turkana and Wajir experienced chronic drought, leaving over half the population dependant on food aid. The hearings were seen as a vital opportunity for communities to speak out about the dramatic impact that climate change is having on their lives. Testimony from the hearings painted a devastating picture of lives and livelihoods that have been severely disrupted by what communities see as a changing climate. Feedback from the hearings indicate that cattle are crucially important to pastoralists, but with changing weather patterns, cattle-rearing is more and more difficult, and livestock are reduced to feeding on polythene paper and human waste. Women in particular were found to suffer from the consequences of a changing climate, with livestock death leading to food insecurity, falling household incomes and child school drop out. The findings of the hearings were taken to the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Durban in end November 2011.
Farmers in Southern Africa are experiencing changes to their climate that are different in magnitude to what they have experienced in the past. Farmers interviewed for this report say that these changes are increasing the risk of poor yields or crop failure. The observations of farmers are largely borne out by meteorological data, particularly on rising temperatures – ongoing climate change, bringing increasing temperatures and changes to precipitation patterns, is projected to make food production more difficult. Southern African farmers are already actively experimenting with changing agricultural practices, and looking for ways to diversify their livelihoods in response climate and other stresses, within their resource constraints. But where large-scale farmers, in the main, can access the resources needed to adapt, small-scale farmers face major obstacles. The authors argue that policy makers need to identify the barriers for farmers, particularly smallholder farmers, as they attempt to adapt to the new climate and other environmental, economic and political pressures.
In this briefing note, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Food Security argues that existing World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules do include certain flexibilities for States to pursue food security-related measures but many of these modifications to the original Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) are relatively modest and even these are by no means assured with the outcome of the Doha Round highly uncertain. Many elements of the AoA and the draft modalities continue to fall short of offering a favourable policy framework for the realisation of the right to food, such as the narrow range of policy measures that could be used to potentially establish national and regional food reserves and domestic institutions to manage price and income volatility for poor rural households. The report sets out a number of recommendations, such as: ensuring that future criteria of the AoA do not impede the development of policies and programmes to support food security and that they are tailored to the specific national circumstances of developing countries; avoiding defining the establishment and management of food reserves as trade-distorting support; adapting the provisions of the AoA and other WTO agreements (in particular, in the area of public procurement) to ensure compatibility with the establishment of food reserves at national, regional and international level; and allowing marketing boards and supply management schemes to be established.
One of the lingering effects of the food price crisis of 2007–08 on the world food system is the proliferating acquisition of farmland in developing countries by other countries seeking to ensure their food supplies. Increased pressures on natural resources, water scarcity, export restrictions imposed by major producers when food prices were high, and growing distrust in the functioning of regional and global markets have pushed countries short in land and water to find alternative means of producing food. These land acquisitions have the potential to inject much-needed investment into agriculture and rural areas in poor developing countries, but they also raise concerns about the impacts on poor local people, who risk losing access to and control over land on which they depend. the authors argue that it is crucial to ensure that these land deals, and the environment within which they take place, are designed in ways that will reduce the threats and facilitate the opportunities for all parties involved.
In Africa, agricultural land covers less than 15% of the land area, yet demand from transnational companies is increasing for arable terrain, driven by the assumption that biofuels are a viable long-term solution to current energy and ecological challenges, combined with a decline in land allocated to agriculture in developed countries. The inclusion of biofuels as part of the green economy agenda jeopardises the immediate and long-term food security of many regions in the developing world, according to this paper. In sub-Saharan Africa, rising food prices, land grabs, and precarious and informal labour conditions are key social threats linked to the emphasis on biofuel production. In Africa, a region already under pressure from population growth, famine, drought and conflict, increases in biofuel production and concomitant land grabs can only contribute to weakening food security and keeping achievement of the Millennium Development Goals far beyond reach.