Food from the Campus: Understanding Africa’s Transition to Sustainable Urban FoodSecurity during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper takes a critical look at the 20-hectares research/demonstration farm at Bayero University Kano’s Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) in Kano, Nigeria. The paper examines how knowledge-based mode farm driven by scientific, ethical, and technological innovations contributes to ensuring some level of food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main research question driving the current study is: in what ways can universities demonstration farms support urban food security during pandemics? The study circumvented lockdown restriction challenges by deploying elevator pitch approach, walk-in interviews, document analysis, and covert observation to elicit the needed data for the study. The CDA farm produced several tons of variety of vegetables using its clean energy and locally recyclable water sources to secure food needs of some urban households during the lockdown. The ability of the farm to effectively embrace sustainable farming system suggests that transitioning to bioeconomy based food security is achievable and affordable in developing countries. Essentially, the paper recommends the need for universities to take a leading role and responsibility in promoting the principles of bioeconomy in agriculture through engagement and collaborations with municipalities and planned and unplanned urban communities in Africa’s fast urbanising cities.

Do COVID-19 and Food Insecurity Influence Existing Inequalities between Women and Men in Africa?

“…A study conducted by the Bayero University Kano’s Centre for Dryland Agriculture in Nigeria found that 75% of the women interviewed reported that no discrimination was placed on them by farm operators when attending markets [ 24 ]. However, these statistics must be interpreted carefully, as only 7/26 of those interviewed were women.…”

The Effects of Pandemics on the Vulnerability of Food Security in West Africa—A Scoping Review

“…In general, for both crises, the first affected factor was felt through a decline in crop production due to the reduction in the labour force and workforce mobility (e.g., for Ebola [34,35]; for COVID-19 [36]). This is exacerbated for women and girls facing a higher burden of childcare and household responsibilities since the pandemic (Zambia, Kenya and Ghana [37], and Nigeria [38]). According to Kodish et al, women also tend to fall ill more frequently [34], as their social role in family healthcare makes them particularly exposed to potential contamination [6], thereby affecting their capacity to work.…”