Urban Agriculture and Urban Food Insecurity in Maseru, Lesotho

Abstract

Lesotho is facing continued and widespread food insecurity. In spite of a rapidly growing urban population, food security interventions and paradigms have primarily focused on bolstering food production within the country. This paper assesses the extent to which household engagement in urban agriculture in Maseru is associated with improved food security. Using household survey data, the paper argues that there is no consistent and statistically-significant relationship between urban agriculture practice and food security among Maseru households. Furthermore, some urban agriculture practices were only associated with significantly greater odds of food security for middle-income households in the sample. Given the that the observed benefits of urban agriculture appear to be conditional upon household income, this study suggests that a generalized production-centred approach to food insecurity may not be the most effective means of addressing household food security in Maseru.

Adaptive Responses to Water, Energy, and Food Challenges and Implications on the Environment: An Exploratory Study of Harare

“…Results of the research are similar to the findings of [75,77] that residential areas have taken part of the agricultural land in cities limiting urban agriculture. Findings are also similar to the results of [63], which reported challenges of food access and inadequacies.…”

“…In Uganda, varying levels of food security in two small urban areas in Uganda experience the same challenges of food access and affordability [72]. Increasing economic challenges in Malawi (Blantyre), Zimbabwe (Harare), and Lesotho (Maseru) have resulted in increases in urban agriculture as a source of livelihood [72,75,76] in [41]. Among the factors that contribute to food security challenges in urban areas is climate change, overreliance on purchased food, inadequate sources of livelihoods, and lack of space for farming.…”

“…In southern Africa, urban agriculture is not an effective means of reducing household food insecurity within the current operating urban regulations [41]. Residential areas have taken part of the agricultural land in Lesotho [75,77]. Urban agriculture can cause harm to the environment through increased pollution from fertilisers and pesticides that have washed away [26].…”

Impact of a nutrition education intervention on nutrition-related self-efficacy and locus of control among women in Lesotho

“…Two out of 10 districts, Maseru and Berea, were included in the study because both their urban and rural areas are fairly accessible. Urban and rural areas were defined according to the Lands Surveys and Physical Planning (LSPP) boundaries in Lesotho ( 6 ). Randomization was done using a sampling frame and every second village was assigned to the intervention group.…”

“…Lesotho is a small mountainous country with a population of 2.2 million people. It is considered to be one of the world's least developed and poorest countries, with half of the population living in poverty and many exposed to high levels of food insecurity (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). The urban transition is characterized by migration to urban areas from remote rural areas that has contributed to rapid urban population growth.…”