Characteristics of Urban Food insecurity: The Case of Kinshasa

2017-12-17 12:28:36 Viewed: 3088 Downloads: 2007
  • Characteristics of Urban Food insecurity: The Case of Kinshasa

      Philippe Lebailly and Damien Muteba

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    Pub: 2017-12-17 12:28:36

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  • Feeding  Kinshasa?  How  to  ensure  food  security  for  millions  of  inhabitants  who  have  to survive on low wages  well below the poverty line? This is the daily challenge for a multitude of poor people in Kinshasa!  Some see  this situation as an opportunity  for strengthening  local producers.  In  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo  (DRC),  the  constraints  affecting  the agricultural  economy  mean  it  cannot  supply  the  city  of  Kinshasa  on  the  basis  ofpredominantly local production but through food imports. In a context of crisis as experiencedin  the  DRC,  food  is  of  strategic  importance  and  the  focus  is  essentially  on  quantity: households  turn  to  cheaper  products  and  high  calorie  intake  at  the  expense  of high-protein foods, leading  to  unbalanced diets.  This imbalance  is exacerbated by  an influx of  imported products, often of  poor  nutritional quality  but at  very competitive prices  and responding  to new  eating habits  of urban consumers.  To understand the issue of food security in DRC, a country  with  high  agricultural  potential but  70%  of  whose  population  is  affected  by  food insecurity,  various  research  devices  have  been  established  by  an interdisciplinary  research group  to  support  policy,  funded  by  the  Belgian  Development  Cooperation  Department  (DGDC  /  CUD):  the  Research  Group  Supporting  the  Policy  for  Food  and  Agriculture  in  Africa  (GRAP  3A).  This  paper  presents  one  of  the  main  focuses  of  the  inter-university research  program  conducted  jointly  with  researchers  from  the  University  of  Kinshasa:  an approach to food insecurity and strategies for a sustainable food policy based on the study of household food consumption in Kinshasa carried out by various surveys.

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  • Keywords

    food consumption, food security, agricultural policy

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