The Resilience of Urban Agriculture in the Face of Adversity from the City Authorities: The Case of Mkoba

Abstract

Against a backdrop of serious hunger and general poverty in the country residents in most urban areas have embarked on urban agriculture as one of the safety valves. General food insecurity has become a permanent feature of most rural and city households. This is because opportunities in the formal sectors are all but non-existent. Pursuance of urban agriculture has been done despite the spirited ruthlessness from the city authorities who regard the practice as being against urban by -laws. This paper analyses this phenomenon. Drawing on empirical evidence from one residential area in Gweru, Mkoba, the paper argues that urban agriculture is a safety valve that is here to stay and the sooner the city authorities reform legislation to accommodate it the better. Urban agriculture generally practiced by women, and to some extent men, has aggravated the burden that women carry in raising the family and it has therefore entrenched their characterization in society as "Beasts of Burden". The contestation over urban spaces between the residents and city authorities is one which the latter are slowly but surely losing because urban agriculture has become a significant feature of urban livelihoods.