Relationship between firewood usage and urinary Cr, Cu and As in informal areas of Cape Town

Dalvie, Mohamed Aqiel; Africa, Algernon; Naidoo, Sivapregasen

doi:10.7196/samj.6451

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…They also commonly lack storage and refrigeration, meaning that they buy in relatively small units to ensure regular throughput of products and therefore food safety [46]. Similarly, traders are also impacted by the high cost of energy, and a number of them use unsafe energy sources to operate [70].…”

Section: Assumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Food Desert as a Concept and Policy Tool in African Cities: An Opportunity and a Risk

Battersby

2019

Sustainability

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The idea that food insecurity can be resolved by increasing the presence of supermarkets has been gaining traction in African cities and has recently gained political traction in Africa. This paper interrogates the potential value and risks associated with the adoption of the discourse of the food desert in the African context. The paper draws on findings from a households survey, neighborhoods-scale food retail mapping and surveys, and city-wide supermarket mapping conducted in Cape Town (South Africa), Kisumu (Kenya), and Kitwe (Zambia). Following a discussion of why the concept is gaining traction, the paper identifies false assumptions associated with the food desert framing in Africa, namely: supermarkets provide better access to healthier food, low-income areas have poor access to healthy food; and food security can be reduced to economic and physical accessibility. The paper concludes that although the food desert concept may be valuable for African researchers to provoke debates about systemic inequality, the food desert policy narrative should be rejected as it is ill-informed by the lived experiences of food insecurity in African cities and may promote policy interventions that erode rather than enhance the capacity of the food system to meet the food security needs of African urbanites.

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Section: Assumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Food Desert as a Concept and Policy Tool in African Cities: An Opportunity and a Risk

Battersby

2019

Sustainability

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“…In Epworth, CUP project enumerators noted that street vendors had recently started cooking beans, packaging and freezing them, and selling them as a quick cook, low-energy dependent food. However, traders are also impacted by the high cost of energy, and a number of them use unsafe energy sources to operate (Dalvie et al 2014). Finally, traders have responded to the time poverty of the urban poor by locating close to transport interchanges and selling prepared foods .…”

Section: Utilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Food Systems Governance and Poverty in African Cities

Battersby¹,

Watson²

2018

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“…The cost and lack of access to electricity and the subsequent use of other sources of energy for cooking, heating and lighting, such as paraffin, coal and wood, as found by other studies [57,61,69], is likely to be a contributing factor to injury and burns risk [58]. Moreover, the use of chromated copper arsenate treated firewood for household purposes is likely to expose informal settlement residents to carcinogens [56]. Informal dwellings are often poorly designed and small in size, increasing the risk of burns and smoke inhalation [49].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematised Review of the Health Impact of Urban Informal Settlements and Implications for Upgrading Interventions in South Africa, a Rapidly Urbanising Middle-Income Country

Weimann

Oni

2019

IJERPH

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Informal settlements are becoming more entrenched within African cities as the urban population continues to grow. Characterised by poor housing conditions and inadequate services, informal settlements are associated with an increased risk of disease and ill-health. However, little is known about how informal settlement upgrading impacts health over time. A systematised literature review was conducted to explore existing evidence and knowledge gaps on the association between informal settlement characteristics and health and the impact of informal settlement upgrading on health, within South Africa, an upper-middle income African country. Using two databases, Web of Science and PubMed, we identified 46 relevant peer-reviewed articles published since 1998. Findings highlight a growing body of research investigating the ways in which complete physical, mental and social health are influenced by the physical housing structure, the psychosocial home environment and the features of the neighbourhood and community in the context of informal settlements. However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research investigating the temporal impact of informal settlement upgrading or housing improvements on health outcomes of these urban residents. Informal settlements pose health risks particularly to vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and people with suppressed immune systems, and are likely to aggravate gender-related inequalities. Due to the complex interaction between health and factors of the built environment, there is a need for further research utilising a systems approach to generate evidence that investigates the interlinked factors that longitudinally influence health in the context of informal settlement upgrading in rapidly growing cities worldwide.

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Relationship between firewood usage and urinary Cr, Cu and As in informal areas of Cape Town

Abstract: The study provides evidence that use of wood likely to contain CCA as a fuel for informal food outlets and household purposes may increase the absorption of inorganic As, Cu and Cr.

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

The Food Desert as a Concept and Policy Tool in African Cities: An Opportunity and a Risk

The Food Desert as a Concept and Policy Tool in African Cities: An Opportunity and a Risk

Urban Food Systems Governance and Poverty in African Cities

A Systematised Review of the Health Impact of Urban Informal Settlements and Implications for Upgrading Interventions in South Africa, a Rapidly Urbanising Middle-Income Country

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