The vulnerability of the urban poor to the recent food and fuel price crisis has been widely acknowledged. The unfolding global financial crisis, which brings higher unemployment and underemployment, is likely to further intensify this vulnerability. This paper reviews the evidence concerning the disproportionate vulnerability of the urban compared with the rural poor to these types of shocks. It reviews some of the unique characteristics of urban life that could make the urban poor particularly susceptible to price and financial shocks and summarizes the evidence regarding the disproportionate vulnerability of the urban poor. The focus is on impacts on poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The review shows that although the urban poor are clearly one of the population groups most affected by the current (and previous) crises, the rural poor, landless, and net buyers are in no better position to confront the crisis without significant suffering. The poorest of the poor are the ones who will be most affected, irrespective of the continent, country, or urban or rural area where they live. The magnitude and severity of their suffering depends on their ability to adapt and on the specific nature, extent, and duration of the coping strategies they adopt. A better understanding of how these coping strategies are used and staggered is critical to help design triggers for action that can prevent households from moving to more desperate measures. Using these early coping strategies as early warning indicators could help prevent dramatic losses in welfare.

No abstract

This paper explores the prevalence of the coexistence of a stunted child and an overweight mother in the same household (SCOWT), a somewhat paradoxical phenomenon when found in the developing world. It tests whether this phenomenon is associated with a country's level of economic development and urbanization and, by implication, the nutrition transition. It then highlights policy directions for public nutrition. Data from 42 Demographic and Health Surveys in Africa, Asia, and Latin America were used. Stunting was defined as height-for-age < -2 SD of the reference population, and maternal overweight as a body-mass index > 25 kg/m2. World Bank and United Nations figures were used for gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (an indicator of economic development) and for level of urbanization. Descriptive statistics were derived, and regression analysis was used to model the association between economic development, urbanization, and the prevalence of pairs of stunted children and overweight mothers. The prevalence of this phenomenon is generally below 10%, except in four countries, three of them in Latin America. The phenomenon is generally more prevalent in Latin America than in Africa, though not necessarily more prevalent in urban than in rural areas. The analysis finds that the phenomenon is associated with economic development, but not urbanization, and that it does differ between urban and rural areas and regions. The association with GDP per capita supports the hypothesis that SCOWT increases with economic development, up to a point. SCOWT appears to be most prevalent, as expected, in those countries in the midst of the nutrition transition. Recognizing this phenomenon is important for delineating strategies that respond to the differential needs of individuals within the household and do not just affect the household as a whole. This may become especially important with future economic development and, potentially, urbanization.

Journal articleIFPRI3; ISIDSGDP

The population of the developing world is becoming more urban. Are poverty and undernutrition beginning to relocate to urban areas as well? We use survey data on poverty (from 8 countries) and on child undernutrition (from 14 countries) to address this question. Using data from the past 15-20 years, we find that in a majority of countries the absolute number of poor and undernourished individuals living in urban areas has increased, as has the share of poverty and undernourishment coming from urban areas.Given these trends and the current stock of knowledge as to the levels, determinants, and solutions to urban poverty and undernutrition, we argue for more research on these issues.