Urban Agriculture as Local Initiative in Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

The topic of urban agriculture has, for a significant period of time, been recognized as a key facet of urban survival in the cities in the South. While it normally forms part of multilivelihood strategies and its overall significance is the subject of some debate, it nonetheless is an important feature of both urban landscapes and urban survival. This paper examines the current status quo of urban agriculture in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Structural adjustment and downscaling of the key copper mining sector seems to have forced more people into various informal survival strategies, including urban agriculture. Despite the apparent growing significance of urban agriculture, as illustrated by significant recent vegetation clearances around the city, official policy remains ambivalent and it has not been adequately supported or catered for in urban planning. While it remains officially illegal, controls are seldom enforced and urban farmers persist with what is a key household survival strategy under trying circumstances.

Synergy and trade-offs between economic efficiency and environmental effects of alternative land use practices using farm level static bio-economic modelling in Bale Eco-Region

“…Per key informants' crop produced are used for both domestic consumption and income generation. This result compared with Hampwaye et al (2007) and Hampwaye (2013) findings who stated that crop cultivators used crops for both domestic consumption and income generation.…”

Local Economic Development in the City of Lusaka, Zambia

“…Beyond the issue of national development planning, at the level of urban government the traditional top down character of urban management and the limited nature of local autonomy has gradually given way to the formal recognition of decentralization as a means to empower local authorities in Zambia to effect change (Mutale 2004;Hampwaye et al 2007). The formal release of the 2002 'National Decentralisation Policy' (Zambia 2002b) occurred during 2004 (Mwanawasa 2004).…”

“…Other livelihood strategies, in particular in peri-urban areas, include piecework, child labour, seasonal farming, prostitution and illicit beer brewing (LCC 2005b, c). In addition, it must be recorded that after street vending the activity Description Manufacture of tobacco products Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials Manufacture of paper and paper products Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel Manufacture of rubber and plastics products Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment Manufacture of machinery and equipment Manufacture of office, accounting and computing machinery Manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus Manufacture of radio, television and communication equipment and apparatus Manufacture of medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocks Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers Manufacture of transport equipment Recycling Air transport Computer and related activities Recreational, cultural and sporting activities of seasonal farming or urban agriculture is among the most important livelihood strategies (LCC 2005b;Hampwaye et al 2007).…”

Economic Restructuring in the Zambian Copperbelt: Local Responses in Ndola

“…Urban-based scholarship on LED has broadened from simply a sectoral focus on manufacturing activities to include newer debates about the potential contribution of tourism to local development (Rogerson 2007(Rogerson , 2009) and of urban agriculture as a 'pro-poor' local initiative (Hampwaye et al 2007). A critical research theme in cities relates to how local governments can assist in improving the local business environment for private sector enterprise development (Kessides 2005;Rogerson and Rogerson 2010).…”