The Dynamics of Urban Sprawl: Diets, nutrition and food security in the Semi-Arid tropics

This paper presents an understanding of the changes in diet quality, food consumption patterns, nutrition trends and overall food security situation from the perspective of urban sprawl and the linkages thereof. Focusing on the phenomenon of ‘nutrition transition’ that coincides with economic, demographic, landuse, and epidemiological changes particularly in fast growing urban areas, the paper shows clear differences in diets and nutritional status based on urbanization. These changes are shaped by socioeconomic status, and by the food environments and broader urban environments within which people make their everyday decisions or choices about food consumption. An increasing trend of malnutrition with undernutrition and over-nutrition, sometimes present in the same households is observed from the data, with gender and age differences. Some recommendations for an integrated, gender-sensitive urban food policies and the role of alternative food markets to enhance food and nutrition-security are elucidated.