City Food in Zimbabwe: The Origins and Evolution

Food and health are part of the major policy issues that surround many developing countries especially in Africa. Globally this has been a major highlight through many United Nations agendas, policies and activities. This chapter is based on evaluating and assessing Zimbabwe’s main source of food and its sustainability in catering for the needs of the nation especially in the cities. The effectiveness of the government in the reduction of the high mortality rate is based on promotion of good health and a healthy balanced diet. The chapter makes use of documentary analysis and secondary data to assess the origins of food in Zimbabwe. It therefore, comes up that Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy and was once the bread basket of Southern Africa; however, due to economic, political and environmental factors the cities and their urban areas are suffering from many health issues due to lack of access to basic food that make up a balanced diet. The origin of food in the country is further depicted through the Ester Boserup Theory and Rostow’s Five Stages of Growth as they highlight the development of agro-based economies from traditional societies to modern economies. There is need to investigate the history of origins of city food as it helps to understand and depict a clear picture for policy-makers and other actors on how best to cope with the shortage of food in the developing world, as the past is a vital asset in forecasting for a better future in the cities. There is need for policy-makers to fully explore the available food sources in Zimbabwe and measure their sustainability in current times as they were in the past so as to come up with effective and efficient food policies.