Enhancing Social Resilience in Urban Communities: The Case of Urban Agriculture in Harare, Zimbabwe

Introduction

According to the Africa Development Bank (2015), Urbanization is growing both in developed and developing countries. The proportion of the world’s urban population is expected to increase to about 57% by 2050 from 47% in 2000. More than 90% of future population growth will be accounted for by the large cities in the developing countries. In the developing world, Africa has experienced the highest urban growth during the last two decades at 3.5% per year and this rate of growth is expected to hold into 2050. Projections also indicate that between 2010 and 2025, some African cities will account for up to 85% of the population. In 2010, the share of the African urban population was about 36% and is projected to increase to 50% and 60% by 2030 and 2050 respectively. As a result of this phenomenal growth in urban population, urbanisation, urban poverty and food and nutrition insecurity have begun to dominate the development discourse again after years of focusing on rural development.

According to Garland et al. (2007) and Hove (2019), the biggest challenge that Governments and other policy makers face is that the pace of urbanization far exceeds the rate at which basic infrastructure and services can be provided, and the consequences for the urban poor have been dire. Failure to prepare for this unprecedented and inevitable urban explosion carries serious implications for global security and environmental sustainability. According to Peng et al. (2011), urbanisation refers to the process by which rural areas become urbanized as a result of economic development and industrialization. Demographically, the term urbanization denotes the redistribution of populations from rural to urban settlements over time. Whether urbanisation is defined in terms of the rural areas taking on a new face, changes in population growth or the expansion of the boundaries of urban areas, the one common factor is that the now urban area is not fully equipped to deal with the new status. As an urban centre grows, it becomes more attractive to those in the rural areas who are then attracted by the “bright lights” of the city and the attendant promise of employment, better service provision and a good life. However, more often than not, these expectations are never fully realised, ZIMSTAT (2020). They then join the growing band of unemployed and poor urban dwellers who do not have adequate services and are food insecure. In Africa, especially, urbanisation has become very closely associated with unemployment and poverty.

This scenario has resulted in a shift in the development discourse from rural to urban poverty. In the past, development partners put a lot of emphasis on rural poverty (Mbiba, 1999). This is because, at a certain point, more people stayed in these areas, the economy was dependent on agriculture and was not necessarily monetised, with barter trade quite popular and significant. However, with rapid urbanisation, the tables have almost turned. Since the urban areas are more of a money economy and with unemployment levels rising drastically, the poverty indicators are becoming more pronounced in the urban areas across Africa. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2017), Africa had an unemployment rate of 39.4% with Sub Saharan Africa at 30.1%. In Zimbabwe, and depending on the definition used, the unemployment rate has been pegged at 90% in some surveys. This puts a strain on the people living in the urban areas and the local authorities who are supposed to provide them with services and social safety nets.