South Africa’s Food Apartheid: Infrastructure and Everyday Urbanism in the Post-Colonial African City

Blessings Masuku, Princeton-Mellon Fellow
Hanna Garth, Anthropology

Over 2.6 million South African households have inadequate access to food, and 1.1 million
households face a severe food shortage. This problem is particularly acute in major metro areas.
This prevalence of food inadequacy varies significantly by gender, citizenship, region, and city.
Informal food markets provide both access to food and are the primary source of income for over
70% of South Africa’s poor and marginalized urban populations. Yet informal food markets
remain neglected by public policy and institutional funding. Building off a multimodal study in
and around the city of Johannesburg, this talk will argue that achieving spatial justice, food
justice and sustainable food security in the context of urban inequality and increasing climate
variability are some of the most pressing challenges for the contemporary South African city.

Special funding for this session is provided by the Department of Anthropology and the African Studies program.

The Fall 2024 Mellon Forum is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation, African Studies, Anthropology, Art & Archaeology, Brazil Lab, Center for Collaborative History, Chadha Global India Center, Effron Center for American Studies, English, French & Italian, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Humanities Council, PIIRS, Program in Latin American Studies, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the School of Architecture.

Mellon Forum events are free and open to the public. Lunch is provided while supplies last.