Rapid Urbanization and the Nutrition Transition in Southern Africa

This is part of a series of policy and research papers designed to raise the profile of the urban food security issue in Africa by presenting new research findings and policy recommendations.

In Africa, the nutrition transition and the associated ‘double burden’ of disease is occurring in the context of massive rural-urban migration and rapid urbanization.16 There is a growing consensus that this situation poses one of the major threats to public health in the developing world, and that it impacts the poor – and therefore the most food insecure – to the greatest extent. This paper reviews the state of knowledge about food insecurity and the double burden of nutrition in the urban areas of Southern Africa and lays out an agenda for future research to fill significant knowledge gaps. It also discusses the implications for policy making on health, food
security and urban planning in the region.