Within the context of demographic growth, rapid urbanization and rising urban poverty which characterizes much of Sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st Century, this book examines the urban poors vulnerability to food insecurity and analyses strategies that households adopt to enhance their resilience in this challenging environment. Harare is the study site, providing an acute example of a city in crisis, and a context in which formal food markets have failed to meet the needs of the urban poor. The central question, then, is how do the urban poor meet their food needs under such conditions of...

The nadir of Zimbabwes political and economic crisis in 2008 coincided with the implementation of a baseline household food security survey in Harare by AFSUN. This survey found that households in low income urban areas in Zimbabwes capital were far worse off in terms of all the food insecurity and poverty indicators than households in the other 10 Southern African cities surveyed by AFSUN. The central question addressed in this report is whether food security in Zimbabwes urban centres has improved. AFSUN conducted a follow-up survey in 2012 that allows for direct longitudinal comparisons of...

This is report is the most comprehensive study yet of the contribution of migrant and refugee entrepreneurs to Cape Towns local economy. The survey of over 500 entrepreneurs engaged in trade, services and manufacturing in different areas of the city dispels some of the more prevalent myths that often attach to the activities of migrants. The vast majority are not "illegal foreigners", but have a legal right to be in South Africa and to run a business. Most are highly motivated individuals who enter the informal economy to earn revenue to support themselves, their families, and because they...