Urban poverty and urban agriculture: An overview of the linkages in Harare

The urban poor throughout most of Africa have experienced increasing difficulties over recent years as a result of the imposition of structural adjustment programmes. One of the main coping mechanisms has been increased self-help in satisfying basic household needs. Food is one of these basic needs and urban agriculture, both legal and illegal, has grown as a consequence of the difficult economic climate. As yet relatively few studies have attempted to assess the role that urban agriculture plays or might play in social and environmental terms. This paper reviews the situation in Harare, Zimbabwe as the contextual setting for an on-going investigation of these two important considerations, placing the present policy responses in their appropriate historical and economic framework, and assessing the research issues which need to be addressed.