African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 1(1) - May 2013 - Full Length Research Paper - Empowering women through improved food security in urban centers, a gender survey in Bulawayo urban agriculture

Oct 15, 2026

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Research investigates how urban agriculture empowers women in Bulawayo, addressing urban residents’ poverty, hunger, weak food security, and limited formal employment. With low cash income increasing food insecurity, many women engage in agriculture. The study combines qualitative and quantitative survey methods, using questionnaires, focus groups, observations, and structured interviews across 10 randomly selected wards and 120 respondents, analyzing data with SPSS.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Urban agriculture and poverty/food security

Gender focus and policy context

Background and conceptual analysis

Women’s social position in Zimbabwe

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 1(1), pp. 18-32, May 2013 Full Length Research Paper Empowering women through improved food security in urban centers: A gender survey in Bulawayo urban agriculture Lillie Beth Hadebe and John Mpofu* Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe. Accepted 24 April, 2013 | ABSTRACT
The major problems facing urban residents particularly women are poverty, poor food security, growing urban population, hunger and lack of formal employment. Due to lack of employment, the majority of women in urban centres are involved in urban agriculture. The major focus of this research was to establish to what extent women are being empowered through urban agriculture. The research sought to establish how women are contributing to urban poverty reduction, provision of urban food security and improved urban environmental management through their empowerment. The research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches and because the research involved an assessment of public opinion of a relatively large group, the survey method was used to conduct the research. Questionnaires, focus group discussion and observations were used as data collection instruments. From the list of 29 wards, simple random sampling of 10 wards was first conducted giving a percentage population of 34% . Twelve households from each ward, practicing agriculture at varying levels and on varying sites, were then identified giving a total sample of 120 respondents. The views of resident farmers were tapped through structured interviews, observations and group discussions with residents and agricultural officials. The SPSS package was then used to analyze the data. There was clear evidence that women are the major players in practicing urban agriculture. Women are being empowered by engaging in urban agriculture wherein they decide what to grow, cultivate their plots, and choose how to dispose of the produce. Whilst women are being empowered through urban agriculture, they face a number of challenges that include lack of finance to buy inputs, limited land for use in agricultural activities and the problem of marketing their produce.
Keywords: Urban agriculture, food security, gender, women empowerment. | | --- | | *Corresponding [author. E-mail: jkwaraimpofu@gmail.com](author. E-mail: jkwaraimpofu@gmail.com). | INTRODUCTION Urban Agriculture has become one of the main activities undertaken by urban residents to alleviate threatening poverty and to improve both food security and nutrition in their households. This may be because lack of cash and meaningful income in urban centres more directly translates into lack of food (MDP Report, 2006) . A number of scholars have written articles on Urban Agriculture (UA) with Urban Agriculture taken to mean'the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food and other uses within and around cities and towns, and related activities such as the production and delivery of inputs, and the processing and marketing of products (van Veenhuizen, 2006) . As a result of this, Hovorka (2008) concludes that urban agriculture is changing the way people feed themselves in cities. Studies carried out on UA in most countries have shown a high percentage participation rate by women in UA activities (McFadden, 1996; The Chronicle, 2008) . Because of the level of female participation in UA activities it becomes paramount to explore, understand and appreciate the role women play in feeding the cities. Of special consideration in this regard is the SADC Gender Monitor (1999) where SADC Heads of States stated one of their commitmentsas that of: 'Promoting women's full access to, and control over productive resources such as land, livestock, markets, credit, modern technology, formal employment, and a good quality of life in order to reduce the level of poverty among women.' Havorka (2008) thus highlights gender as a means by which to disaggregate data and explore the socio-economic, location and

FAQs

What problem does the study focus on regarding urban residents, especially women?

It focuses on poverty, hunger, poor food security, growing urban population pressures, and lack of formal employment that push many women into urban agriculture.

How did the researchers collect and analyze data?

They used questionnaires, focus group discussions, observations, and structured interviews, then analyzed the data with SPSS.

What evidence does the study provide about women’s roles in urban agriculture?

Women are identified as major players who gain empowerment by deciding what to grow, cultivating plots, and choosing how to dispose of produce, while still facing constraints like finance, land limitations, and marketing challenges.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford