Spatial analysis of food systems transformations in rapidly growing African cities

Urban food systems in the rapidly growing cities of the Global South are under pressure because of an ongoing loss of farmland in urban and peri-urban settings. This threatens the food security of deprived social groups that suffer from a decreased accessibility to (healthy) foodstuffs. This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of African urban food systems by analysing spatial relations between the development of the city’s built environment and the locations of food production and consumption. Kampala, the rapidly growing capital of Uganda, will be taken as an example case. Firstly, urban food consumption patterns will be mapped by means of household surveys in a set of socioeconomically contrasting urban and peri-urban neighbourhoods. Secondly, the produced consumed food will be traced back to its origin, enabling us to delineate a ‘foodshed’ for each neighbourhood. This is the geographical area in which most of the food consumed in a certain neighbourhood is produced. Thirdly, the project will analyse to what extent existing foodsheds are expected to change as Kampala’s built environment expands. This urbanisation manifests itself in processes of infilling and sprawl, leading to a loss of urban and peri-urban farmland. Finally, a geographic model will be developed to simulate  the impact of future urban planning interventions on food security for different socioeconomic groups.