Felicity Chancellor

In: UA Magazine No. 12 - Gender and Urban Agriculture

Urban poverty is an increasing problem. Around 70% of the world's poorest people are women, many of whom are widows or single mothers with the responsibility of feeding children and old people. Small-scale food production as part of a range of opportunities is vital to the livelihoods of poor people and poor women in the city. The social, cultural, and economic climate of the city moulds the ways men and women can use and benefit from urban agriculture. The two studies referred to in this article provide a rudimentary gender analysis as the basis to discuss how urban agriculture actually benefits the major stakeholders.