Losing the Plot: The Impact of Urban Agriculture on Household Food Expenditure and Dietary Diversity in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

Urban agriculture (UA) is proposed as a solution to the social and economic challenges presented by cities by providing urban households with food and income using environmentally friendly food production techniques. To date, most analysis of UA has been based on single-city studies. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by using a cross-country approach and by analysing household level data from nine sub-Saharan countries—Burkina Faso (2014), Ethiopia (2013), Ghana (2009), Malawi (2013), Niger 2014, Nigeria (2012), Tanzania (2010) and Uganda (2013). This paper sets out to answer three questions; the first investigates which are the main characteristics of households engaged in urban agriculture; the second looks at the role played by UA in diversifying household diets and reducing household food expenditure; the third examines the heterogeneity in the impact of UA across the food expenditure distribution. Using an inverse-probability weighted regression adjustment method, the results show that households engaged in agriculture reduced expenditure on food and modified their food expenditure profile by spending more on protein rich food -nuts, legumes, fruits, dairy products, meat and poultry. The study also finds substantial variation on the impact of UA across the food expenditure distribution.