South‐South Migration and Urban Food Security: Zimbabwean Migrants in South African Cities

Abstract

The drivers of food insecurity in rapidly-growing urban areas of the Global South are receiving more research and policy attention, but the precise connections between urbanization and urban food security are still largely unexplored. In particular, the levels and causes of food insecurity amongst new migrants to the city have received little consideration. This is in marked contrast to the literature on the food security experience of new immigrants from the South in European and North American cities. This article aims to contribute to the new literature on South-South migration and urban food security by focusing on the case of recent Zimbabwean migrants to South African cities. The article presents the results of a household survey of migrants in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg. The survey showed extremely high levels of food insecurity and low dietary diversity. We attribute these findings, in part, to the difficulties of accessing regular incomes and the other demands on household income. However, most migrants are also members of multi-spatial households and have obligations to support household members in Zimbabwe. We conclude, therefore, that although migration may improve the food security of the multi-spatial household as a whole, it is also a factor in explaining the high levels of insecurity of migrants in the city.

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Food Security at Whose Expense? A Critique of the Canadian Temporary Farm Labour Migration Regime and Proposals for Change

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“…The rapidly changing population dynamics in African cities present a perennial challenge for social scientists and policymakers. The dominant discourse has focused on the flow of rural migrants to large cities, with some literature showing that migrants play a key role in urban food systems while also facing many forms of vulnerability (Crush, 2013;Crush & Tawodzera, 2017). One difference observed between primary and secondary cities is the heightened importance of rural-urban linkages and circular migration in the latter, for example in urban households that operate farms in rural areas or maintain close ties with rural households who send food remittances.…”