Migration, Urbanization And Its Implication On Food Security Among Low Income Households In Manzini City Swaziland

This paper seeks to contribute to recent food security debate. On the basis of field study conducted in three low income areas of Manzini, this study investigated how insufficient food has become a chronic development problem in Africa’s urban area due to rapid urbanization which is eating up the resourceful land and pushing food production further away. Therefore this study was designed to capture the role of migration, urbanization and its implications on food security among the selected low income households in the area. Data for this study was collected through questionnaire interviews involving a sample of 500 households. Result that very few households received food in the past years from rural based relatives and friends and even fewer received food from similar sources in urban areas. Contrary to what has been reported in the literature, in Manzini urban poverty has not strengthened urban-rural linkages in the form of increased food flows from rural areas. The study concludes that urban-rural linkages are not only important but are increasingly becoming an important element of livelihood strategies. Therefore this study recommends that there is a need to establish a background f