ABSTRACT

Rapid urbanization is a common phenomenon occurring throughout the world especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is the case in Buea Municipality. The occurrence of urbanization has significant effects on food security. The main aim of this research was to examine the impacts of urbanization on food security in Buea. The study used cross-sectional and explanatory research designs to collect data and data collection was done using questionnaires and from secondary sources like text books and from the internet. Chi square was used to test the hypothesis. The results showed that urbanization has significant impacts on food security in the Buea Municipality. Some of these include: decrease in food production, increase in food production and diversion of agricultural land in to non-agricultural land (land use change). Housing expansion and population growth were also discovered to have significant effects on food security in Buea Municipality some of which include: Consumption of more processed food, increase in food demand and consumption of greater quantities of food. The research recommended that the government should organize campaigns in order to sensitize the inhabitants by organizing workshops on vocational training skills which they can do in order to meet up with their daily basic needs without necessarily depending on the government.The government should equally provide to the inhabitants of the Buea Municipality many employment opportunities by relocating some of the industries and firms or direct the supply of many products to the inhabitants of Buea.

Key Words: Urbanization, Food Security, Buea Sub-division

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the background to the study, problem statement, the research questions, objectives, hypotheses, the significance of the study, scope and justification of the study, definition of terms and chapter layout.

1.1. Background of the Study

According to Sauer (2021), more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Due to the ongoing urbanization and growth of the world’s population, there will be about 2.5 billion more people added to the urban population by 2050, mainly in Africa and Asia. The world’s urban areas are highly varied, but many cities and towns are facing problems such as a lack of jobs, homelessness and expanding squatter settlements, inadequate services and infrastructure, poor health and educational services and high levels of pollution.

Food insecurity is increasingly known to be a global problem. The sustainable development goal 2 has emphasized the urgent need to tackle food insecurity in achieving human rights by the year 2030 (Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO, 2010).

An expected 345.2million people projected to be food unsecured in 2023. Meanwhile, back in 2010, there were 795million people who were food insecured. The projected figure for 2023 constitutes a staggering rise of 200million people compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. More than 900,000 people worldwide are fighting to survive in famine-like conditions. The global community must not fail on its promise to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 (World Food Program, 2022).

World Food Program continues to face multiple challenges. The number of acutely hungry people continues to increase at a pace that funding is likely to match, while the loss of delivering food assistances is at all-time high because food and fuel prices have increased. Unmet needs raise the risk of hunger and malnutrition. Unless the necessary resources are made available, lost lives and reversal of hard-earned development gains will be the price to pay. (W.F.P, 2022).

The question many researchers are asking is that; why is the world hungrier than ever? This seismic hunger crisis has been caused by deadly combination of factors. Conflict is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 70% of the world’s hungry people living in areas afflicted by war and violence. Events in Ukraine are further prove of how conflict feeds hunger forcing people out of their homes, wiping out their sources of income and wrecking countries economies (World Food Program, 2022).

Climate crisis is one of the leading causes of the steep rise in global hunger. Climate shocks destroys lives, crops and livelihoods and undermine people ability to feed themselves. Hunger will spiral out of control if the world fails to take immediate climate action. Global fertilizer prices have climbed even faster than food prices, which remains at a ten year high themselves. The effects of the war in Ukraine, including higher gas prices, have disrupted global fertilizer production and exports, reducing supplies, raising prices, threatening to reduce harvests. High fertilizer prices could turn the current food affordability crisis into a food availability crisis, with production of maize, rice, soybeans, and wheat falling in 2022. (World Food Program, 2022).

Costs are also at all-time high. World food programs monthly operating costs are 73.6 million dollars above their 2019 average, an increased (44%) rise. The extra now spent on operating costs would have previously fed 4million people for one month. In countries including Nigeria, Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria, World Food Program is already faced with hard decisions, including cutting rations to be able to reach more people. This is tantamount to taking from the hungry ton feed the starving. (World Food Program, 2022).

From the Central American Corridor and Haiti, through the Sahel, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and eastwards to the horn of Africa, Syria, Yemen and all the way to Afghanistan, conflict and climate shocks are driving millions of people to the brink of starvation.

Asia is home for more than 4.7 billion people, about 60% of the world population. So its not surprising that the greatest number of people facing hunger in the world live in Asia. According to (F.A.O, 2021), Asia was home for more than 425 million undernourished people. That’s about 9% of the regions total population and more than half of the 768 million people globally who are undernourished in 2021.

Also in Asia, 58 million people were forced into hunger in 2020 after the onset of the pandemic COVID 19. Another 26 million were added to the ranks of hungry people in 2021. And the number continue to rise. Almost 25% of the people in  the Asian pacific region are currently experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity with more than 10% of the people in the food insecurity category. Of Asia’s food insecure people, most are in the south Asian countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, where almost 41% of the population was food insecure in 2021, with 21% facing severe insecurity.

In 2025, almost 1.9 billion Asians (about 44% of the population) were unable to afford a healthy diet, an increase of 78 million over 2019, That is because the cost of healthy diet the Asian saw was high due to pandemic covid 19 and measures taken by national government to curb it.

Poverty and inequality are the main causes of hunger and all the forms of malnutrition across the world, including Asia. Several events since 2020 have come together to create a food crisis unlike any seen since the second world war. These events include the following: covid 19 pandemic, soaring inflation affecting the world, hitting poorest families, conflicts and insecurity, weather extremes like typhoons affecting countries like Philippines and Indonesia.

In Africa, a record of 278 million people were already facing hunger in 2021, according to data from the UN food and agricultural organization (FAO), it says the situation has worsened. The number of east Africans experiencing acute food insecurity, when a lack of food put lives or livelihoods in immediate danger, has spiked by 60% in just 2022 and by nearly 40% in west Africa according to (WFP, 2022).

Conflict and climate change are the long term causes. Heavy depth burdens following covid 19 pandemic, rising prices and war in Ukraine have made things much worse as European aid has been sucked away, data and testimony from more dozen experts, donors, diplomats, medical staff, and men and women in farms and market places across nearly a dozen countries in Africa and beyond.

Climate change has caused east Africa to lose four consecutive rainy seasons, the worst drought in 40 years, Micheal Dunford, the WFP east African director said this situation has never been as bad from a regional perspective as it is today.

African countries account for only 3% of the global emissions responsible for climate change, but suffers more than any other region from its impact. Of the 20 nations ranked most vulnerable to climate change, all but 4 are African according to the notre dame global adaptation index, which measures countries vulnerability. Some 22 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia face high levels of acute food insecurity due solely to the drought, a number projected to rise up to 26 million this 2023 if the rains again fail, the WFP said.

The European union countries have as a major priority in addressing growing food insecurity to help Ukraine export its agric food production which has been severely compromised by the Russian invasion. Ukraine is a key producer and exporter of food staples, such as wheat and maize. Some 90% of its wheat export went to Africa and Asia between 2016 and 2021, supporting food insecurity in some of the most disadvantage regions in the world.

In Cameroon, according to a study carried out by the comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (CFSVA, 2017) across the 10 regions of Cameroon’s territory, shows that around 16% of households are estimated to be food insecure (3.9 million people), including 1% that are severely food insecure (around 211 people). The regions of the great north that have historically been exposed to issues related to food availability, access and utilization are still among the most food insecure, particularly the far north (33.7% of food insecure households), followed by Adamawa (15.4%) and north (15.3%). Surprisingly the regions of northwest and west also recorded high rate of food insecurity (respectively 18.% and 18%) of households most probably because of the Anglophone crisis that escalated in west affecting its neighboring regions.

One in five households have adopted coping mechanisms that had a negative impact on the livelihood, Nationally, almost 30% of households spend more than 75% of their expenditure on food, although there is a significant geographic variation. Far north 54.4% Adamawa 41.8% and north 43.5%. moreover, 73.8% of households do not have access to credit, those who contract depths mainly use it to pay fees (29%), to access health services (26%) and to buy food (16.6%).

The wealth index shows a north south divide: northern part of the country has the highest prevalence of households in poorest quartile, especially in the far north where 65% of households are in the poorest quartile. Conversely, the southern part of the country has a higher prevalence of medium income and better off households, the peaks in the urbanized cities of Yaoundé and Douala.

The conceptualization of food security goals by Koc et al (1999) however goes beyond the adequacy of food quality and quantity and extends to four; accessibility, availability, stability and utility. Each of the key aspects of food security can be analyzed in the context of urban environment as the population grows due to different factors Furban migration. The most visible effect of urban expansion in Buea is discernible in the peri urban areas especially in areas like Bolifamba, Muea, Bomaka which have witnessed rapid population growth.

In this research, our main case study is in the Buea Municipality where the research will be carried out.

1.2. Statement of Problem

Urbanization presents a number of significant impacts on food security in the Buea municipality. Urbanization has resulted in the decrease in food production, reduction of farmer’s income, reduction in rural labor force and skills which results in reduction in food production, changing supply chains, dietary changes and the diversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural lands.

The research therefore, focuses on examining the impacts of urbanization on food insecurity in the Buea municipality.

1.3. Research Questions

To examine the impacts of urbanization on food security in Buea, the following questions are taken in to account.

1.3.1. Main Research Question

What are the impacts of urbanization on food security in Buea Municipality?

1.3.2. Specific Research Questions

1. What are the trends in Urbanization in Buea Municipality?
2. How has housing expansion and population growth lead to food insecurity in Buea Municipality?
3. What are the measures to improve food security in Buea Municipality?

1.4 Research Objectives

In order to carry out an effective research on the relationship between Urbanization and food security, the study takes in to account the following research objectives.

1.4.1 Main Research Objective

The main aim of this study is to determine the impacts of urbanization on food security in Buea.

1.4.2 Specific Research Objective

1. To analyze the trends in urbanization in the Buea Municipality.
2. To evaluate how has housing expansion and population growth have led to good insecurity in the Buea Municipality.
3. To suggest the measures to improve food security in Buea Municipality.