Urban Agriculture as a Survival Strategy: Food Security, Inequality, and Community Development in Enugu State, Nigeria

Researchers identify urban agriculture (UA) as an important informal coping strategy in post-industrial cities of the Global South. However, scholars continue to debate the socio-economic complexities of UA. This research undertook a critical analysis of the dualistic nature of UA in Enugu State, Nigeria, with particular emphasis on its role as a survival strategy for women and the contradictory effects of UA on achieving food security, addressing inequality, and fostering community development. A case study methodology was used to collect data through a household survey of 222 households and interviews conducted in two neighbourhoods with contrasting socio-economic characteristics.Results show that UA is a critical coping strategy that improves household food availability despite insecure land tenure and economic conditions. However, it also perpetuates gendered inequalities as a "patriarchal bargain" where women's expanded reproductive labour does not necessarily lead to improved economic empowerment. Although UA strongly promotes bonding social capital, it does not foster bridging social capital with formal institutions, thereby undermining its transformative potential.This study asserts that unless gender-transformative policies are put in place to address land rights, labour equity, and institutional connectivity, UA could perpetuate the same inequalities that it helps households survive. It also suggests the need to think in terms of frameworks that can transform UA from a coping strategy into an instrument of equitable urban resilience.