Volume 5, Number 1

The Significance of Urban Agriculture In Enhancing Food Security In Urban Areas

  Authors

BRIVERY Siamabele, Pan African University, Cameroun

  Abstract

Addressing urban poverty is firmly on the development agenda, whilst the issue of urban poverty is a worldwide problem, it is especially prominent in Africa, where 61% of the urban population live in slums. however, several factors have caused urban poverty including unemployment, lower salaries, Structural Adjustment Programmes and generally the economic crisis experienced recently in countries like Zambia (as of the years 2015 and 2016 and recent droughts in 2018). Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to investigate how in light of the recent economic changes urban agriculture can serve as a possible poverty reduction mechanism in Less Developed Countries' urban areas. The research was premised on firstly investigating the benefits associated with practicing Urban Agriculture in enhancing food security, secondly looking at the constraints associated with practicing Urban Agriculture using the sustainable livelihoods framework. The following were the identified constraints faced by the people practicing Urban Agriculture; poor access to land and water, insecure yields, lack of inputs, poor organization, and lack of institutional support. This paper used the secondary data by reviewing literature on Urban Agriculture.

  Keywords

Food security, poverty, urban agriculture, sustainable livelihoods theory