Lecture 6: Urban Food Systems in the Global South

Question 1

Principles of Food Systems Science

Answer 1

Involves all actors and steps: production → aggregation → processing → distribution → consumption → waste
Includes crops, livestock, aquaculture, forestry
Embedded in environmental, societal, and economic context

Question 2

Food Security & Accessibility

Answer 2

SDG 2 – Zero Hunger Goals
Safe and nutritious food
End malnutrition
Support small food producers
Preserve diversity
Avoid trade distortions

FAO Definition of Food Security
Access at all times to sufficient, safe, nutritious food
Access = physical, social, and economic
Stability through time (Jeder et al., 2020)
Three dimensions of access:

Economic: income, food prices, inflation, land prices
Social: food sharing, food banks, school meals, gender roles
Physical: distance, transport, backyard gardening, segregation

Question 3

Food Access Case Study: Kampala

Answer 3

4 groups:
→ Established high-income (EH)
→ Established low-income (EL)
→ Newcomers middle-income (NM)
→ Newcomers low-income (NL)

Findings:
Homegrown food: mostly EH and EL
Mobile vendors: important for NM and NL
Diets vary by group: cereals and tubers dominant

Question 4

Case Study: Food Vendors in Suriname

Answer 4

Commewijne: ethnic composition
Supermarkets: 74% Chinese-operated
Fresh markets and wholesalers: 100% Hindustani
Street stalls: more Hindustani than Javanese
Restaurants: 56% Javanese
Retailers, take-away: ethnically mixed

Question 5

FIES – Food Insecurity Experience Scale

Answer 5

8 questions (e.g. skipping meals, eating less, worrying about food)
Scoring 0–8 → food secure to severe insecurity
Focus: experience and quantity of food
Limitation: does not measure malnutrition or children’s food insecurity

Question 6

HDDS – Household Dietary Diversity Score

Answer 6

12 food groups (e.g. cereals, vegetables, legumes, dairy, sweets)
Measures food diversity over 24h or 7 days
Example Kampala:
→ EH = 6.35
→ EL = 5.42
→ NM = 6.10
→ NL = 5.14

Question 7

Sustainability in Diets

Answer 7

Sustainable diets: healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate, low environmental impact (FAO, 2012)
Food consumption varies globally (calories, meat, inequality)
Typical dishes shown: Suriname, Uganda, Belgium
GHG emissions differ by food: beef > poultry > rice > beans
Why does it matter where food comes from?

Transport ≠ biggest impact, but location still matters
Disruptions (COVID-19, war, climate) show vulnerability
Visualising origin helps expose risk

Question 8

Foodsheds: A Tool in Food System Research

Answer 8

Types of Studies
Capacity: how much local food can supply the city
Flow: where food comes from
Hybrid: combines both
Case: Kampala Foodshed
Asked: what food? how much? where from?
Mapping shows majority sourced from peri-urban/rural Uganda
Only 2–10% imported from abroad
Urban agriculture = key for lowest-income groups
Extensions

Example: Dar es Salaam → visualised full supply chain for amaranth
Urban and rural contributions traced

Question 9

Policy Implications

Answer 9

Many future residents will live in cities not yet built (HLPE, 2024)
Urban planning must include food access:
More markets
Protect urban agriculture
Improve infrastructure
Formalise systems gradually
Invest in secondary cities