Corridors of Vulnerability and Resilience along the Southern Route: Assessing Food (in)security among Somali and Ethiopian Refugees in Kenya, Malawi and South Africa

This study aims to investigate and compare how Somali and Ethiopian refugees experience and respond to food insecurity across three interlinked transit sites (Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp, and the Bellville area of Cape Town), and examine coping strategies – from reliance on humanitarian rations; capturing the experiences and food security challenges faced by migrants as they travel overland between the Horn and South Africa. The specific objectives include: (1) Vulnerability Mapping: To document the demographic profile, socio-economic activities, drivers, manifestations, and coping mechanisms of food insecurity among Somali and Ethiopian refugees in each site and while travelling the corridor; (2) Corridor Comparison: To assess how the physical, institutional, and socio-economic and legal environments differ across Eastleigh, Dzaleka, and Bellville, and how these variations shape migrants’ food procurement strategies; and (3) Policy and Practice: To provide evidence-based recommendations for local and national stakeholders (NGOs, municipal governments, UN agencies) to enhance food security programs for refugee and migrant populations. The project will audit prior research, survey 300 Somali and Ethiopian refugees and migrants in each corridor, conduct semi-structured conversations (both individual and focus groups) with 50 migrants per site, conduct 20 key informant interviews and Photovoice study with 10 – 15 participants per site.