Supermarket Expansion and the Informal Food Economy in Southern African Cities: Implications for Urban Food Security

The new international food security agenda proposes small farmer production as the solution to growing food insecurity in Africa. A striking omission in this agenda is any consideration of the dimensions and determinants of urban food security. In Southern African towns and cities, lack of access to food is key to the food insecurity of poor urban households. This article reviews the current state of knowledge about the food sources of such households, paying particular attention to the expansion of supermarket supply chains, their impact on informal food suppliers and the relative insignificance of urban agriculture. The article also presents and analyses the significance of findings from a recent eleven-city survey of food insecurity in Southern Africa conducted by the African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN).