MiFOOD PAPERS

Ndeyapo M. Nickanor, Vonai Charamba, Jonathan Crush, and Tobias Shinyemba

The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruption to Namibia’s vibrant urban informal economy. This paper examines the impact of the pandemic on the informal food sector in northern Namibia, with a focus on the towns of Oshakati, Ondangwa, and Ongwediva. The data come from a survey of 250 informal food vendors (200 women and 50 men) who were operating in the…

Zack Ahmed

Research on African cities has often examined South-South migration and urban food security as separate issues, overlooking how migrants’ legal status, gender roles, and labour market participation jointly shape household food access. This paper applies an intersectional framework to analyze the food-security experiences of Somali migrants in Eastleigh, Nairobi. It builds on previous analyses of baseline vulnerabilities and pandemic-related shocks…

Lawrence N. Kazembe, Ndeyapo M. Nickanor, Jonathan S. Crush and Halima Ahmed

Informal food trading is a vital source of livelihood and food security in African cities, yet traders operate under precarious conditions requiring constant adaptation. This study examines how social innovations enable resilience among informal traders in Windhoek, Namibia, with attention to gendered pathways. Using a cross-sectional survey of 470 traders, three innovation constructs – adaptive pricing, customer credit, and communications…

Bernard Owusu, Sujata Ramachandran and Jonathan Crush

Climate change is influencing many human activities and socioeconomic processes, including migration patterns within countries. Although extensive research exists on internal migration across numerous African contexts, the links between climate change and migration in rural and urban areas have not been thoroughly explored. This scoping review of selected studies examines this relationship throughout the region by analyzing existing research. Eight…

Anu Abraham and Shyma Jose

This paper examines food security and dietary diversity among low-skilled migrant workers from Kerala, India, who worked in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and returned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was gathered through face-to-face surveys with 100 return migrants in key sending districts of Kerala during 2022 and 2023. Our research investigates whether these migrants experienced poorer diets and…

Samuel Owuor, Veronica Mwangi, John Oredo, Stellah Mukhovi, Kathleen Anangwe, and Sujata Ramachandran

This study explores the business dynamics, opportunities, and challenges faced by women street food vendors in selected informal settlements of Nairobi. It examines how they manage these challenges, including the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While many studies have investigated informal food vendors, less is known about women operating in these roles within urban informal settlements. This paper presents…

Naomi Sunu

Tropical Cyclone Idai, which struck in March 2019, is one of the most catastrophic climate-related disasters in Southern Africa’s history, particularly affecting Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Across these countries, the cyclone caused widespread economic, environmental, and infrastructural destruction, rapid displacements, and fatalities. Displaced people encountered disproportionate disaster impacts, underscoring the need to mitigate displacement risks as climate risks intensify. This…

Zack Ahmed and Jonathan Crush

This paper examines the complex dynamics of bi-directional and multi-directional remitting among Somali migrant and refugee households in Eastleigh, Nairobi. Drawing on mixed-methods research conducted in 2022 with 268 survey respondents and 45 in-depth and key informant interviews, the paper explores how Somali households simultaneously receive remittances from relatives in multiple countries while remitting outward to kin in Somalia. Findings…

Godfrey Tawodzera, Inês Raimundo, Jonathan Crush, Rogers Hansine, Ezequiel Abrahamo, Filipe Mate, and Sujata Ramachandran

Mozambique-South Africa constitutes an established cross-border migration corridor in Southern Africa, structured by historical movements tied to the colonial empire and its exploitative resource extraction system, prolonged civil war, and more recent challenges, such as economic hardship and natural disasters. Despite being among the main groups of international migrants, little is known about the food security of Mozambican migrants in…

Naomi Sunu, Sujata Ramachandran, Jonathan Crush, Elizabeth Thomas-Hope, and Natalie Dietrich Jones

Migration and remittance processes have a significant impact on socioeconomic development and food security in Commonwealth countries. Although remittances are critical sources of income for migrant-sending households in countries of origin, their effects are shaped by economic arrangements, financial inclusion and policy contexts. Moreover, the linkages between migration, remittances and food security remain largely underexplored. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis…

Lawrence N. Kazembe and Ndeyapo Nickanor

As one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most arid countries, Namibia serves as a crucial example for studying the interactions between climate vulnerability, migration, and food systems. This study investigates how internal migration flows to Windhoek and northern towns (Oshakati, Ongwediva, Ondangwa) transform urban food networks while creating new patterns of risk and adaptation. Through household surveys, policy analysis, and stakeholder interviews,…

Bernard Owusu and Jonathan Crush

This paper explores the overlooked practice of food-related remittances in the Ghana-Qatar migration corridor, emphasizing their social, emotional, and cultural significance within translocal households. While cash remittances are widely studied, food remitting remains under-researched despite its critical role in sustaining family ties and addressing food insecurity. Drawing on a mixed-methods study involving household surveys in Ghana and interviews with migrants…

Lawrence N. Kazembe, Ndeyapo Nickanor and Godfrey Tawodzera

This study examines the food security challenges faced by Angolan migrants in Namibia, focusing on the interplay between migration, livelihoods, and food insecurity. Drawing on survey data from households in Northern towns and the capital city of Namibia, the research reveals high levels of food insecurity among Angolan migrants, characterized by limited dietary diversity and a reliance on coping strategies…

Naomi Sunu and Sujata Ramachandran

Migrant remittances have been recognized as vital resources for the well-being of recipient households and communities, as well as for sustainable development in the Global South. However, these flows can be impeded by limitations in the infrastructure, financial systems, and regulatory environments of both sending and receiving countries, as exemplified by the high costs associated with remitting to sub-Saharan Africa….

Mercedes Eguiguren, Taymi Milán and Cheryl Martens

This study examines the food insecurity experiences of Venezuelan migrants in Quito, Ecuador, within the broader context of the Venezuelan crisis, regional migration responses, and the structural precarity migrants face. Moving beyond the dominant “migration crisis” narrative, this paper adopts a crisis-living framework to analyze how protracted instability and pandemic precarity shape migrants’ experiences. Based on a 2023 survey of…

Fernanda Vázquez-Vela and Guénola Capron

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically exacerbated vulnerabilities among migrant populations globally, and Mexico was no exception. This paper examines the experiences of four migrant shelters in Mexico City and its metropolitan area during the pandemic lockdown, highlighting how these institutions responded to the twin challenges of public health and food insecurity. The study draws on ethnographic and documentary research to analyse…

Jonathan Crush and Zack Ahmed

International migration and food security are still treated as separate policy and research domains, yet they are deeply intertwined in the African urban context. This paper unbundles the nexus between migration and urban food security by examining how migrants and refugees navigate food systems, cope with vulnerabilities, and deploy resilience strategies to mitigate food insecurity. As rapid urbanization reshapes African…

Silvia A. Odhiambo, Patrick Mbullo Owuor, Doreen Obondo, Janet Anyango Onyango, Joyce Kiplagat and Elizabeth Onyango

While there is substantial literature on the effects of COVID-19 on formal businesses, limited evidence exists on the impacts of the pandemic on informal female-owned enterprises. Additionally, no studies have explored the role of post-pandemic recovery strategies in meeting the unique challenges experienced by the informal food vendors in secondary cities in the Global South. In this paper, we explore…

Eunice Annan-Aggrey

As climate change accelerates, the costs of adaptation are rising sharply. This escalation comes at a time when financial inflows to developing countries – such as official development assistance and foreign direct investment – are declining. Meanwhile, the global political climate is becoming unfavourable to sustained climate financing commitments. In this context, the role of remittances in supporting climate adaptation…

Sujata Ramachandran, Elizabeth Onyango, Zhenzhong Si, Zack Ahmed, Mercedes Eguiguren, Jonathan Crush and Neil Arya

In this paper, we examine how the ‘new normal’ of pandemic-living transformed the local food environment in Ontario as pandemic foodscapes. Using selected findings from mixed methods research with a small sample of recently resettled refugees in the Waterloo region, we evaluated how these changes affected their grocery shopping and food-sourcing habits. We identify the distinctive ways the pandemic-related restrictions…

Cheryl Martens and Taymi Milán

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador, exacerbating their vulnerabilities due to restrictive containment measures, socioeconomic instability, and barriers to healthcare and basic services. This paper examines the intersection of pandemic-related restrictions, migrant precarity, and state responses, highlighting the disproportionate effects on urban Venezuelan migrants. Key challenges included irregular migration pathways, increased food and housing insecurity, exclusion from…

Ralph Armah, Mary B. Setrana, Peter Quartey, Aba Crentsil, Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe, and Innocent Agbelie

This paper examines the food insecurity experiences and coping strategies of West African migrants in Accra, Ghana, across three periods: pre-COVID-19, during the pandemic, and post-COVID-19. Utilizing a survey of 420 migrants, the study explores the interplay between remittances, socioeconomic factors, and food security. The findings reveal that food insecurity was most severe during the pandemic, with remittances—especially food remittances—offering…

Zhenzhong Si, Zack Ahmed, Sujata Ramachandran, Neil Arya and Jonathan Crush

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated the vulnerabilities of migrants and refugees in secondary cities in Canada, where the restrictive food environment and limited resources heightened challenges related to food security. This study investigates how the intersectionality of immobility, gender, and food insecurity shaped the lived experiences of recently resettled Syrian, Somali and Afghanistan refugees in the Waterloo Region, Canada,…

Godfrey Tawodzera

Decades of interlocking economic and political crisis have generated significant out-migration from Zimbabwe to other countries. Neighbouring countries with relative political stability and better livelihood opportunities, such as Namibia, have witnessed increased inflows of Zimbabweans. While there are studies documenting these movements, far less attention has been paid to the food security of Zimbabwean migrants in other countries. This paper…

Anand Panamthottam Cherian

Low-skilled Malayali women migrants employed as domestic laborers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)1 countries navigate a transnational labor system that entrenches gendered hierarchies and structural inequalities. Ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Kerala and the United Arab Emirates utilizing biographical methods such as life history and oral history reveals that migration, often envisioned as a pathway to economic security, intensifies vulnerabilities through…

Zack Ahmed, Jonathan Crush and Samuel Owuor

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered severe shocks to food security for marginalized populations in urban areas. Somali migrants and refugees in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood faced disproportionate impacts due to strict containment measures, disrupted food supply chains, and the shutdown of informal markets. These disruptions exacerbated existing socio-economic inequities, leading to heightened food insecurity. This paper examines the multi-dimensional effects of the…

Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera and Maria Salamone

This paper revisits the issue of rural-urban links in post-apartheid South Africa, challenging the assumption that the end of apartheid would lead to rapid urbanization and the dissolution of circular migration. Despite the abolition of influx controls and the significant increase in the urban population from 33% in 1980 to 55% in 2011 among black South Africans, rural-urban ties and…

Chetan Choithani

This paper examines the ways in which male circular migration as a household livelihood strategy affects food access among rural households in India. Circular male labor migration is the dominant form of labor mobility in many parts of India. This migration pattern creates important rural-urban linkages through income transfers and alters the gender power relations within the migrant-sending households. Drawing…

Laeba Khan

This paper examines the abrupt and far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on women engaged in the informal food sector within the Global South. It highlights the deepening effects of the pandemic on food insecurity, gender inequality, and economic disparities. Based on a case study of three groups of women – internal migrants, international migrants, and cross-border traders – engaged…

Jonathan Crush and Sujata Ramachandran

The COVID-19 pandemic has been referred to as a great disruptor of global migration leading to a crisis of immobility caused by public health lockdowns, closed borders, and the suspension of visa processing. Layoffs and retrenchments of migrant workers led to widespread hardship and an intensification of pre-pandemic precarity, as well as disrupted remittance channels and flows. Against this backdrop,…