Food sources and access strategies in Ugandan secondary cities : an intersectional analysis
Mackay, Heather LU
(2019)
In Environment and Urbanization
31(2).
p.375-396
- Abstract
This article arises from an interest in African urbanization and in the food, farming and nutritional transitions that some scholars present as integral to urban life. The paper investigates personal urban food environments, food sources and access strategies in two secondary Ugandan cities, Mbale and Mbarara, drawing on in-depth interviews and applying an intersectional lens. Food sources were similar across dimensions of difference but food access strategies varied. My findings indicate that socioeconomic circumstance (class) was the most salient influence shaping differences in daily food access strategies. Socioeconomic status, in turn, interacted with other identity aspects, an individual’s asset base and broader structural... (More)
This article arises from an interest in African urbanization and in the food, farming and nutritional transitions that some scholars present as integral to urban life. The paper investigates personal urban food environments, food sources and access strategies in two secondary Ugandan cities, Mbale and Mbarara, drawing on in-depth interviews and applying an intersectional lens. Food sources were similar across dimensions of difference but food access strategies varied. My findings indicate that socioeconomic circumstance (class) was the most salient influence shaping differences in daily food access strategies. Socioeconomic status, in turn, interacted with other identity aspects, an individual’s asset base and broader structural inequalities in influencing urban food environments. Rural land and rural connections, or multispatiality, were also important for food-secure urban lives. The work illuminates geometries of advantage and disadvantage within secondary cities, and highlights similarities and differences between food environments in these cities and Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
(Less)
- author
- Mackay, Heather
LU
- publishing date
- 2019-10-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- food access strategies, food sources, intersectionality, secondary cities, Uganda, urban food environments
- in
- Environment and Urbanization
- volume
- 31
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85067700989
- ISSN
- 0956-2478
- DOI
- 10.1177/0956247819847346
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Funding Information: I am deeply grateful to Joe T Odori (not his real name) for his role in data collection, translation and transcription. It was a pleasure and an honour to work with him. I would additionally like to thank Aina Tollefsen, whose encouragement and guidance has been invaluable. Thanks to Magnus Jirstr?m and Sabina Bergsten for comments on an early draft. Thank you also to Prof. Frank Mugagga, Department of Geography, GeoInformatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, for logistical coordination and support. My gratitude to staff at the Municipal Councils of Mbale and Mbarara for their interest in this research. I thank three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and for encouraging me to push my analysis further. Finally, to all the interviewees who so generously donated their time and shared their stories, thank you. Any errors or misinterpretations are mine alone. This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas), grant number: 250-2014-1227, project ?Urban agriculture, double disease burden and the ameliorative potential of household food production?. In addition, the field research was supported by a travel grant from the J.C. Kempe Memorial Fund managed by the Ume? Student Union, and by a scholarship from the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography (SSAG). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
- id
- 02c2255f-62b8-4891-abf2-8b909c63691d
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-03 09:52:56
- date last changed
- 2022-04-29 00:07:03
@article{02c2255f-62b8-4891-abf2-8b909c63691d,
abstract = {{<p>This article arises from an interest in African urbanization and in the food, farming and nutritional transitions that some scholars present as integral to urban life. The paper investigates personal urban food environments, food sources and access strategies in two secondary Ugandan cities, Mbale and Mbarara, drawing on in-depth interviews and applying an intersectional lens. Food sources were similar across dimensions of difference but food access strategies varied. My findings indicate that socioeconomic circumstance (class) was the most salient influence shaping differences in daily food access strategies. Socioeconomic status, in turn, interacted with other identity aspects, an individual’s asset base and broader structural inequalities in influencing urban food environments. Rural land and rural connections, or multispatiality, were also important for food-secure urban lives. The work illuminates geometries of advantage and disadvantage within secondary cities, and highlights similarities and differences between food environments in these cities and Uganda’s capital, Kampala.</p>}},
author = {{Mackay, Heather}},
issn = {{0956-2478}},
keywords = {{food access strategies; food sources; intersectionality; secondary cities; Uganda; urban food environments}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{375--396}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Environment and Urbanization}},
title = {{Food sources and access strategies in Ugandan secondary cities : an intersectional analysis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956247819847346}},
doi = {{10.1177/0956247819847346}},
volume = {{31}},
year = {{2019}},
}