Life in urban Africa is often mired in crisis, thus researchers and practitioners
usually pay attention to the multiple urban development challenges and sometimes
interpret the activities and actions of urban dwellers as their means to survive in these
cities. Urban food security research has remerged in recent years as a major development
agenda in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially following the food price crisis of
2007/08, which translated into violent protest in many African cities. There is increased
recognition that the issue of urban food insecurity encompasses more than just an
availability crisis, yet there is limited attention paid to the multiscalar and multifaceted
political-economic, social-cultural and environmental factors that drive food insecurity in
cities. This research examines the multifaceted factors that shape food insecurity among
urban dwellers in Gaborone, Botswana, by assessing household food access and
choice/consumption patterns. Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, like many African
cities, has experienced rapid urban growth since independence, however, with low
subsistence agricultural production, Botswana depends largely on South Africa for food
imports.
Using in-depth analysis and research techniques, including participant
observation, food diaries and discussions with 40 households, this study examines urban
dwellers’ complex food experiences. The data from Gaborone show that changing urban
food system, food prices, income status and people’s lifestyle influences urban residents’
ability to access appropriate foods. The research highlights the poor quality of urban diets
in Gaborone among the survey population. The high consumption recorded of processed
foods; sugars and oils are major contributory factors to the so-called ‘double burden’ of
disease, where food insecurity and malnutrition coexist with obesity, a situation that is
increasingly prevalent in low-income societies. Drawing on an easy-to-use analytical
tool, the Household Dietary Diversity Score, while combining it with a political ecology
approach to provide more contexts, this study highlights the political-economic, sociocultural
and ecological factors that drive urban dietary diversity. The research, therefore,
contributes to the methodological debate around measures of food access, while
providing empirical details on the case of urban food insecurity in Botswana. Further
inquiries on the factors influencing people’s food choices and consumption patterns
reveals that multiple interacting factors, including cost, convenience, commercials,
culture and class influence the decision around which foodstuff households consume and
that food consumption patterns within Gaborone are fluid, dynamic and hybridized. Thus,
food consumption in SSA matters in its own right and by illustrating that consumption
patterns in Gaborone are heterogeneous and fluid this research helps us better understand
and contest the idea that globally food consumption patterns are becoming increasingly
homogeneous and predictable. By providing a conceptually holistic and methodologically
in-depth assessment of food experiences in Gaborone, this research calls for increased
attention towards urban dwellers' agency and the complexity, dynamism and hybridity of
urban processes in SSA cities.