Proceedings of the MDP/IDRC workshop on the political economy of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Eastern and Southern Africa compiled by Shingiraj Mushamba.

Bronte Hotel, Harare, Zimbabwe, February 28 - March 2, 2001

Organised by the Municipal Development Programme for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA) in collaboration with IDRC. The workshop focused on the political economy of urban agriculture, in recognition of the important role it plays: access to resources such as peri-urban land and water are key to determining who practices urban agriculture and who benefits. Secure access to land and water is influenced not only by urban legislation and landuse planning, but also by the range of formal and informal rules, institutions and processes that determine access to and use of resources, and through which competition and negotiation over resources occur. Understanding these processes can assist in establishing political processes and institutions which enable stakeholders to resolve potential conflicts over access to resources.

Purpose of the workshop was to get insight in priorities in eastern and southern Africa on the political economy of urban agriculture. Focus was on urban and peri-urban land, including analysis of formal and informal land markets and sub-markets, access to land, and implications for urban land management and planning.

Participants in this workshop came from Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Outcomes of the workshop will be used to prepare a research proposal for follow-up activities in the field of the political economy of UA.

You can download the proceedings of the workshop below.