Food, Culture, and Survival in an African City

A rich ethnographic portrait of food-provisioning processes in a contemporary African city, offering valuable lessons about the powerful roles of gender, migration, exchange, sex, and charity in food acquisition. Based on anthropologist Karen Coen Flynn's study of Mwanza, Tanzania, this work draws on the personal accounts of over 350 market vendors, low, middle and high-income consumers, urban farmers as well as those, including children, who live on the streets. This strikingly original work offers interdisciplinary appeal to a broad audience of both students and professionals interested in anthropology, African studies, urban studies, gender studies and development economics. Based on Anthropologist Karen Coen Flynn's study of Mwanza, Tanzania, Food, Culture, and Survival in an African City draws on the personal accounts of over 350 market vendors, low-, middle- and high-income consumers, urban farmers, and those who live on the streets. This strikingly original work offers interdisciplinary appeal to a broad audience of both students and professionals interested in anthropology, African studies, urban studies, gender studies and development economics. This is a rich ethnographic portrait of food-provisioning processes in a contemporary African city, offering valuable lessons about the powerful roles of gender, migration, exchange, sex, and charity in food acquisition. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Introduction....Pages 1-29 Researching Food in Mwanza....Pages 31-38 Changing Patterns of Consumption: Effects and Determinants....Pages 39-65 Mwanza’s African and Asian Households....Pages 67-96 Historical Transformations in Household Composition....Pages 97-111 Pooling, Straddling, Juggling, and Balancing on One Foot....Pages 113-128 Farming the City....Pages 129-151 Food, Gender, and Survival among Street Adults....Pages 153-174 Lessons on Food, Childhood, and Work from Street Girls and Boys....Pages 175-201 Food Entitlement, Charity, and “The City”....Pages 203-211 Back Matter....Pages 213-254 Glossary Of Kiswahili Terms -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Researching Food In Mwanza -- 3. Changing Patterns Of Consumption : Effects And Determinants -- 4. Mwanza's African And Asian Households -- 5. Historical Transformations In Household Composition -- 6. Pooling, Straddling, Juggling, And Balancing On One Foot -- 7. Farming The City -- 8. Food, Gender, And Survival Among Street Adults -- 9. Lessons On Food, Childhood, And Work From Street Girls And Boys -- 10. Food Entitlement, Charity, And The City. Karen Coen Flynn. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [223]-242) And Indexes. An ethnographic portrait of food-provisioning processes in a contemporary African city, this book offers a perspective on the powerful roles of gender, migration, sex & charity in food acquisition