Food security is rarely prioritised in African cities, and food vendors are similarly ignored or stigmatised, despite providing a range of affordable, accessible meals. Furthermore, past research and urban policies usually overlook food hawkers selling inside informal settlements. Based on participatory research in Nairobi, this paper aims to address the invisibility of vendors in informal settlements and to inform more appropriate, inclusive urban food security strategies. Balloon-mapping and other novel mapping techniques were combined with focus group discussions to explore vendors’ practices, challenges, and opportunities for promoting food safety. Our detailed maps, vivid narratives, and community-led strategies may cook up a storm that can create safer foods and more secure livelihoods, with benefits extending across African informal settlements.
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Resource collections
- Locally led humanitarian action
- Topics
- UN Habitat - Urban Response Collection
- Urban Response - Urban Crisis Preparedness and Risk Reduction
- Urban Response Collection - Community Engagement and Social Cohesion
- Urban Response Collection - Economic Recovery
- Urban Response Collection - Environment and Climate Change
- Urban Response Collection - Housing, Land and Property
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Resilience
