IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Food Security January 2013 | Page 9

Food Security in Urban Slums by 2018

Not Affordable
Trephine Ambimo is a 35-year-old single
mother of five. She lives in Korogocho, an
informal settlement outside of Nairobi,
Kenya. Every day she has to walk to
a nearby estate to earn some money
doing menial jobs. She earns US$2.40 a
day, which is not enough to feed her five
children and pay rent. She is afraid to be
kicked out by the landlord so she pays rent
and she teaches her kids to skip meals to
save money.22

Not Available
Manal Omar, a 40 year-old housewife,
raises chickens to sell eggs. Her husband
earns about US$1.50 day but rent is
almost US$63 a month. There is little
left for food, especially with the price
increases. Those, like Manal, who live
in ashwa’iyyat (informal settlement)
frequently pay more for food than those
who live in Cairo, Egypt’s most prosperous
neighbourhoods. Manal has to travel a
considerable distance to get nutritious
food at more affordable prices.24

Country
% of income

spent on food
United States 6.8%
Netherlands 11.4%
Portugal 15.7%
Argentina 20.3%
Turkey 24.5%
Peru 29.1%
India 35.8%
Nigeria 40.1%
Indonesia 44.1%
Azerbaijan 48.5%
Figure 8. Percentage spent on
food by country26

Version 1.0, January 2013

Finally, high-quality food must be safe. It should be clean, well-preserved, and free of disease.
Common pathogens like Salmonella and norovirus make hundreds of millions of people sick
each year.23
People need food that is accessible
Food needs to be close to people. It must be within a reasonable proximity to homes in order for
people to reach it. Travelling long distances or spending time shopping around can be costly for
families struggling to find food.
Food needs to be available over time. If a family has the ability to get food one day, but not the next
day, or the next week, they will never achieve food security. Ultimately, food needs to be available
when and where people need it.
Finally, food needs to be affordable. If food costs too much, it is not available to the people who
need it most. Too many people spend too much of their limited budgets trying to pay for adequate
food. The average family in the United States spends about 7% (Figure 8) of its income on food
annually. For a family earning US$50,000 a year, that’s spending just under USD$300 per month.
While a price increase in food would undoubtedly put a strain on a family’s budget, at 7% of total
budget, most families are able to juggle other items around to meet the increases. The average
family in Indonesia, however, spends about 44% of its income on food. For a family earning a
moderate US$5,000 a year, that’s about UD$185 a month being spent on food. Even though their
income is ten times less, Indonesians are still spending about 62% of what Americans pay for
food.25

Trends suggest a worsening scenario in
the future
Climate change and volatility will create uncertainty in food production
The global climate is changing. As time passes, it is becoming clearer that traditional food
production methods will not be enough to sustain global food requirements for the future. Severe
weather events can wipe out an entire year of agricultural livelihood. Droughts and other disasters
are becoming more frequent. Food producers have to rethink the way they harvest; a single annual
harvest of a single crop is becoming too risky.27 Changing realities in our climate mean that food
production disasters ݥ