Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Urban Slums: Experiences from Nairobi, Kenya
Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Urban Slums: Experiences from Nairobi, Kenya
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DOI：
10.1007/s11524-014-9894-3
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发表时间：
2014-12-01
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Ezeh, A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kimani-Murage, E. W.;Schofield, L.;Ezeh, A.
由于营养在健康成长和人力资本发展中的作用，粮食和营养安全对经济发展至关重要。贫民窟居民已经受到长期贫困的严重影响，他们极易受到各种形式的冲击，包括政治不稳定造成的冲击。本研究描述了内罗毕贫民窟居民的粮食安全状况，特别关注与2007/2008年肯尼亚选举后危机相关的脆弱性。数据来源于内罗毕城市健康和人口监测系统（NUHDSS），该系统跟踪调查了肯尼亚内罗毕两个贫民窟近3万户家庭的约7万人。这项研究对定性和定量来源的数据进行了三角测量。它使用了2010年11月与社区成员进行的10次焦点小组讨论和与社区意见领袖进行的12次关键信息者访谈的定性数据，以及2011年3月至2012年1月三轮数据收集中从NUHDSS数据库随机抽取的约3,000户家庭的定量数据。粮食安全的定义采用家庭粮食不安全获取量表（HFIAS）标准。研究发现，粮食不安全的发生率很高；85%的家庭处于粮食不安全状态，其中50%处于严重粮食不安全状态。与粮食安全有关的因素包括收入水平、生计来源、家庭规模、依赖比率；疾病、不安全感和居住贫民窟。定性叙述强调，家庭易受粮食不安全影响是司空见惯的事，但在危机时期至关重要。受访者表示，贫民窟的居民一般都是为了生存而吃饭，很少关心质量。这些叙述描述了2007/2008年肯尼亚选举后暴力事件期间贫民窟居民的脆弱性加剧。玉米粉等主食价格翻了一番，同时由于失业情况恶化，家庭购买力下降。使用消极的应对策略来解决粮食不安全问题，如减少用餐次数、减少食物种类和质量、拾荒和吃街头食品很普遍。总而言之，本研究描述了长期贫困和严重危机之间的深刻联系，以及城市贫民窟环境中随之而来的高度粮食不安全问题。家庭极易受到粮食不安全的影响；在贫民窟居民的看法中，危机期间情况恶化，导致经常使用消极的应对策略。解决城市贫困人口家庭粮食不安全脆弱性的有效对策应侧重于家庭长期贫困造成的潜在脆弱性和急性危机的附加影响。
Food and nutrition security is critical for economic development due to the role of nutrition in healthy growth and human capital development. Slum residents, already grossly affected by chronic poverty, are highly vulnerable to different forms of shocks, including those arising from political instability. This study describes the food security situation among slum residents in Nairobi, with specific focus on vulnerability associated with the 2007/2008 postelection crisis in Kenya. The study from which the data is drawn was nested within the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS), which follows about 70,000 individuals from close to 30,000 households in two slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The study triangulates data from qualitative and quantitative sources. It uses qualitative data from 10 focus group discussions with community members and 12 key-informant interviews with community opinion leaders conducted in November 2010, and quantitative data involving about 3,000 households randomly sampled from the NUHDSS database in three rounds of data collection between March 2011 and January 2012. Food security was defined using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) criteria. The study found high prevalence of food insecurity; 85 % of the households were food insecure, with 50 % being severely food insecure. Factors associated with food security include level of income, source of livelihood, household size, dependence ratio; illness, perceived insecurity and slum of residence. The qualitative narratives highlighted household vulnerability to food insecurity as commonplace but critical during times of crisis. Respondents indicated that residents in the slums generally eat for bare survival, with little concern for quality. The narratives described heightened vulnerability during the 2007/2008 postelection violence in Kenya in the perception of slum residents. Prices of staple foods like maize flour doubled and simultaneously household purchasing power was eroded due to worsened unemployment situation. The use of negative coping strategies to address food insecurity such as reducing the number of meals, reducing food variety and quality, scavenging, and eating street foods was prevalent. In conclusion, this study describes the deeply intertwined nature of chronic poverty and acute crisis, and the subsequent high levels of food insecurity in urban slum settings. Households are extremely vulnerable to food insecurity; the situation worsening during periods of crisis in the perception of slum residents, engendering frequent use of negative coping strategies. Effective response to addressing vulnerability to household food insecurity among the urban poor should focus on both the underlying vulnerabilities of households due to chronic poverty and added impacts of acute crises.