Urban Agriculture and Urban Food Insecurity in Maseru, Lesotho

Jonathan Crush¹, Bruce Frayne² and Cameron McCordic^1,

¹Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada

²School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

Cite this paper:
Jonathan Crush, Bruce Frayne and Cameron McCordic. Urban Agriculture and Urban Food Insecurity in Maseru, Lesotho. Journal of Food Security. 2017; 5(2):33-42. doi: 10.12691/jfs-5-2-3

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.

Keywords:
urban agriculture urban food security poverty Maseru Lesotho

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