The Characteristics, Extent and Drivers of Urban Food Poverty in Kisumu, Kenya
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Publication Date
2018Author
PAUL OPIYO, NELSON OBANGE, HARUN OGINDO, GEORGE WAGAH
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Show full item recordAbstract/ Overview
Kisumu – Kenya’s third-largest city – experiences a very high level of food insecurity that is directly
linked to poverty. Given the precarious employment status of many in Kisumu, and the high levels
of food insecurity, conventional responses to urban food security that seek to increase availability of
food, generally through production support, will not effectively address food insecurity in Kisumu.
In Kisumu, most residents access food through the market: through the formal supermarket sector,
municipal markets, or the informal sector. All play a role in the food system; all are important. For
the poor, however, study findings suggest that the informal sector is of critical importance. Although
the boundary between the formal and informal sectors is often blurred, municipal markets, kiosks
and street traders play a key role in the food economy of Kisumu. The population of Kisumu is
growing rapidly, with a high percentage of residents under the age of 30 years. Urban services and
infrastructure are significantly lacking, particularly in the informal settlements. The intersection
of youth, unemployment, infrastructure, poverty and levels of food insecurity highlights the
systemic nature of the poverty and food-security challenge in Kisumu. This calls for very different
programmatic responses to address these challenges. Food poverty can be addressed from both the
supply and demand sides, by boosting production and removing bottlenecks in the supply chain, as
well as creating more economic opportunities for employment and improving household incomes. But
a key consideration in addressing food poverty is to integrate food into planning and infrastructure
thinking and design. Food intersects with space and makes food-sensitive planning a responsibility
of a wide variety of city planners and development practitioners. The long-term development and
health-related consequences of food poverty place Kisumu City at risk of continued food insecurity
and long-term under-development, well into the future, unless food security is urgently placed on the
city’s development agenda.
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- Department of Economics [103]