Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2020·South Africa (Cape Town)

“There is food we deserve, and there is food we do not deserve” Food injustice, place and power in urban agriculture in Cape Town and Maputo

Nicole Paganini, Stefanie Lemke

Local Environment

Urban Farm DB summary

This study, conducted from 2017 to 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, and Maputo, Mozambique, explored urban agriculture's contributions to livelihoods and food availability through a food justice lens. In Cape Town, NGO-led urban agriculture regulated production and market access, serving wealthy consumers, with only 15% of farmers consuming their produce. In Maputo, urban agriculture contributed to local food availability, with 99% of farmers eating their produce, but farmers depended on intermediary-determined prices and faced unequal access to inputs. The study revealed stark structural inequalities and uneven power dynamics in both contexts.