A ROAD TO EVEN FOOD ACCESS?
Exploring the potential of non-motorised transportation for improving food
access of slum dwellers in Kibera.
Vita Bakker
11061057
Supervisor
Dr. ir. Y.P.B van Leynseele
Graduate School of Social Sciences University of Amsterdam Nieuwe Achtergracht 129 1001 NC Amsterdam The Netherlands E-mail: Y.P.B.vanLeynseele@uva.nl Second reader Marco te Brömmelstroet
Graduate School of Social Sciences University of Amsterdam Nieuwe Achtergracht 129 1001 NC Amsterdam The Netherlands Local supervisor Zahra Kassam New Town Institute
Abstract
Due to the consequences of uneven geographical development, slum dwellers have difficulties accessing food; a crucial precondition for people to be food secure. Where traditional food security literature focuses on the consumers, this thesis also explores the food accessibility needs of the micro-vendors and market vendors in the food system of Kibera. To understand the food accessibility determinants for these actors, this study researches in what way non-motorized transportation (NMT) supporting policies could better the accessibility to food; resulting in the following research question: How can NMT promoting policies improve food accessibility in Kibera and with
that obviate the excluding consequences of uneven geographies?
To answer this question, the research draws on a sequential mixed-method design; with tracing back analysis, structured interviews and focus group interviews. The data was retrieved during the field research in March, April and May 2017 in one of the biggest slums of Africa: Kibera, in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
The findings of this exploratory study show that policies that serve and promote NMT modes could predominately improve access to food (produce) for micro-vendors and market vendors who obtain their food within cycling distance of the slum; most of the time the market downtown. Improvements could be seen concerning travel time, travel costs and when executed nicely, also the quality of the infrastructure could be improved. For consumers, a different picture emerged, due to limited income and erratic food prices they are highly dependent on a good relationship with their vendors within their community.
Keywords: Food accessibility; non-motorized transportation; uneven geographical development; slum; Kenya
Acknowledgements
There are a number of people I want to thank gratefully for their help, patience, ideas and guidance. First and foremost I wish to thank the people of Kibera who were willing to contribute to this research by telling their stories, their struggles and their innovative coping strategies to access their food.
I sincerely thank my supervisor dr. ir. Yves van Leynseele from the University of Amsterdam for his guidance throughout the whole process of writing this thesis. Moreover, I thank him greatly for his patience, feedback and introducing me to the field of anthropological concepts and perspectives. Next to that I want to thank Marco te Brömmelstroet for being my second reader and his willingness for being involved with my thesis.
I also express my gratitude to Zahra Kassam for giving me practical guidance with the preparation of my field research and introducing me to experts in both the field of food planning, as well as transportation planning.
Additionally, I want to thank my research assistants Alex Kweya, Alex Kamau, Mike Kamau and Brian Ondijoz for helping me with the data collection in Kibera. Without their help it would not have been possible to conduct all these interviews and gain insight in the accessibility needs of the participants.
A special thanks to the University of Amsterdam for the program of Urban and Regional planning; a program I have followed with great enthusiasm and opened my eyes in so many ways. Likewise I want to thank the University of Amsterdam for giving me the opportunity to gain experience in doing research abroad in an unknown environment.
Finally I want to thank all the other amazing people that have been involved in any other way in my research. Thankyou! Bedankt! Asante sana!
Content
Table of Contents ABSTRACT ... 3ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... 4
ABBREVIATIONS ... 1
1
INTRODUCTION ... 2
2
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 1
2.1
UNEVEN GEOGRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT AND RIGHT TO THE CITY ... 1
2.1.1
Uneven geographical development ... 1
2.1.2
Spatial segregation and exclusion ... 2
2.2
FOOD ACCESSIBILITY ... 3
2.2.1
Food deserts ... 3
2.2.2
Food systems ... 4
2.2.3
Dimensions of food accessibility ... 6
2.3
NMT AND INCLUSIVE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS ... 9
2.3.1
Inclusive urban transport systems ... 9
2.3.2
Significance of NMT in inclusive transport systems ... 10
2.4
CONCLUSION ... 13
3
CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 13
3.1
NAIROBI LEVEL ... 13
3.1.1
Geography ... 13
3.1.2
Food system and policies ... 13
3.1.3
Urban transportation and policies ... 14
3.2
KIBERA LEVEL ... 16
3.2.1
Geography ... 16
3.2.2
Food ... 16
3.2.3
Transport and infrastructure ... 17
3.3
CONCLUSIONS ... 18
4
RESEARCH DESIGN ... 18
4.1
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 18
4.2
VISUALISATION CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 19
4.3
METHODOLOGY ... 20
4.3.4
Phase 2 Focus groups interviews ... 27
4.3.5
Phase 3 Uneven development of NMT in Nairobi ... 28
4.3.6
Phase 4 Linking food accessibility needs ... 29
4.4
ETHICS AND RESEARCH LIMITATIONS ... 29
4.5
CONCLUSIONS ... 30
5
ANALYSIS: ACTORS AND THEIR ACCESS TO FOOD ... 31
5.1
TYPOLOGIES IN THE FOOD SYSTEM ... 31
5.2
KEY DETERMINANTS OF ACCESS IN THE FOOD SYSTEM ... 35
5.2.1
Characteristics participants ... 35
5.2.2
Deductive results: perceiving key determinants of food access by actors ... 39
5.2.3
Inductive results: underlying dynamics, tactics and coping strategies ... 43
5.3
CONCLUSIONS ... 49
6
NMT POLICIES AND TRENDS IN NAIROBI ... 50
6.1
CONTEXT AND STATE OF THE ART URBAN MOBILITY NAIROBI ... 50
6.2
CURRENT POLICIES AND TRENDS ... 51
6.3
CONCLUSIONS ... 53
7
NMT AS A SOLUTION FOR FOOD ACCESSIBILITY? POLICY ADVICE AND IMPLEMENTATION ... 1
7.1
NMT AS A SOLUTION FOR FOOD ACCESSIBILITY ... 1
7.2
SUGGESTIONS FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT ... 4
7.3
BARRIERS FOR IMPLEMENTING THESE POLICIES ... 5
7.4
CONCLUSIONS ... 6
8
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ... 7
8.1
CONCEPTUAL REFLECTION ... 7
8.2
METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTION ... 8
8.2.1
Mixed methods ... 8
8.2.2
Likert-scale ... 9
8.2.3
Missing data ... 9
8.2.4
Field notes ... 10
8.3
RECOMMENDATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH ... 10
9
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 11
APPENDIX 1 OPERATIONALIZATION TABLE
APPENDIX 2 INTERVIEWS (SI & FGI) APPENDIX 3 ANALYSIS FOOD SECURITY APPENDIX 4 KRUSKAL – WALLIS TEST
Figures
Figure 1 Sustainable Food System ... 4
Figure 2 Elements of Food Security ... 6
Figure
3 Strengths and Weaknesses of bicycles as a NMT mode ... 11
Figure 4 Modal Split in Nairobi ... 14
Figure 5 Location Kibera within Nairobi ... 16
Figure 6 State of infrastructure in Kibera during rainy season ... 17
Figure 7 Visualisation of Conceptual Model ... 19
Figure 9 Micro-vendors scattered over Kibera ... 22
Figure 10 Expectations of actors in the food network and sampling areas ... 24
Figure 11 Results of tracing back analysis, the typologies and their food access points ... 32
Figure 12 Microvendor food stall ... 33
Figure 13 Micro-vendor mobile food cart ... 33
Figure 14 Market vendor Toi-market ... 34
Figure 15 Data collections points structured interviews ... 35
Figure 16 Considered importance of transportation mode based on modes used ... 42
Figure 17 Q-Q plot perceived importance transportation costs ... 44
Tables
Table 1 Determinants of food accessibility ... 9Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics participants ... 36
Table 3 Descriptive statistics ... 36
Table 4 Overview of deductive factors perceived by actors in the food system ... 39
Table 5 Factors resulting form factor analysis ... 44
Table 6 Comparing means of newly obtained factors ... 45
Table 7 Linking strengths of NMT to identified food accessibility determinants ... 1
Abbreviations
BRT Bus Rapid Transport System
EFA Explorative Factor Analysis
FGD Focus Group Discussions
FGI Focus Group Interviews
JICA Japan International Corporation Agency
NMT Non-motorized transportation
SAA Sub-Saharan Africa
SI Structured Interviews
Definitions
Bodaboda Motortaxi
Matatu Vans that serve as unofficial public
1 Introduction
Income and wealth inequalities are increasing. The rapid urbanisation in developing countries, accelerated by urban sprawl, motorisation and spatial segregation (LSE Cities, 2014) fuels the uneven development of cities. Consequently, urban areas have become arenas of severe food insecurity for the urban poor. Food insecurity strikes especially those living in slum areas such as Kibera, Nairobi. The concept of food security is multidimensional; four different but intimately related dimensions can be distinguished: food availability, food accessibility, food utilisation and stability (FAO, 2006). This thesis scrutinises the food accessibility aspect, considering it has often been mentioned as a greater obstacle to food security than food availability (Frayne, 2010); (Olvera et al., 2003); (Battersby, 2011). Where food availability addresses the ‘supply side’, which is determined by production, stock levels and net trade (FAO, 2008), the accessibility dimension focuses on the access to this supply side. Various barriers to food prevent people from partaking in the food system. Due to uneven geographical development, slum dwellers are suffering exclusion from the formal food system. Along with dynamics of prolonged and severe spatial segregation, the majority of the slum dwellers in Kibera is forced into alternative and informal food systems. Despite the substantial impact of these informal systems, many people in Nairobian slums experience food insecurity due to limited (financial) food access, especially in times of crisis (Kimani-Murage et al., 2014).
The role of transportation in food accessibility has been widely recognized (McDermot et al., 2017; Burns & Inglis, 2007; Coveney & O’Dwyerb, 2009). However, the same uneven geographical development causes the urban poor being excluded from the transportation system. For that reason, policies improving accessibility to transport without increasing the financial burden can provide a mechanism for improving food accessibility (Clifton, 2014). Currently, slums in Nairobi, and therefore Kibera, are relatively well connected by matatu’s; informal buses running around the city following a well-organised scheme. Although, these matatu’s being informal and cheaper than official public transit, for many of the slum dwellers matatu’s are financially inaccessible (Salon & Gulyani, 2010). On top of this, due to uneven food geographies and spatial segregation, slum dwellers frequently pay higher transportation costs to reach their destination than their non-slum counter parts. Since a significant number of Nairobi citizens live in slums, the majority (47%) of the people are condemned to walking; which is free but can be time-consuming and problematic when it comes to transporting goods. Faster, low-cost transportation modes such as non-motorized transportation (NMT) modes like bicycles could be a solution. Accordingly, increasing accessibility to transportation and here with access to food is vital for increasing the inclusiveness of food systems. With almost 2.5 million people living in Nairobian slums (Ahmed et al., 2015), and 85% of the slum households being food insecure (Kimani-Murage et al., 2014) urgency exists to probe for solutions.
In order to improve the food security for all citizens, a growing acknowledgement exists in the scientific literature that food planning should be incorporated into the realms of urban planning (Morgan, 2009) and in some cases more specific into urban transportation planning (Clifton, 2014); (Sonino, 2009). Recent research looking into food accessibility, related to transportation frequently refers to the concept of food deserts. These studies tend to focus on the Northern hemisphere, proximity to supermarkets and the practice of food shopping. This thesis, however, specifically focuses on the potential of NMT in improving food accessibility in
has been conducted by Clifton (2014) exploring coping transportation strategies of marginalised in the United States concerning food access. The conclusions are not very surprising: cars offer flexibility and mobility giving the opportunity to look further away for goods. Even though the car is an important aspect in food shopping for the people, who do not own one, automobile-oriented policies for improving the accessibility of food do not serve the financially disadvantaged. Hence, transit and walking remain crucial for access to food for the urban poor. However, the focus of these coping strategies is related to car ownership. This global north perspective offers relatively few analytical entry points for the poor urban dwellers and vendors in Nairobi as some already experience difficulties paying for public transportation. Nevertheless, here the link between overcoming barriers food accessibility with transportation strategies is made. Even so, the importance of non-privately owned modes and NMT-modes in food shopping is underlined. On the other hand, literature can be found advocating for NMT policies (in Kenya) to improve social inclusiveness of the transportation system. In this manner, the accessibility to the markets can be increased for consumers, micro-vendors and market vendors. In grey literature, pleas have been made for research on the effect of inclusive non-motorized transportation promoting policies in respect to food accessibility in developing countries. In spite of these recommendations, to the best of the writers’ knowledge, this has not been done yet.
The line of thought of this thesis is: uneven geographical development causes uneven access to
food and to the transportation system. Since food accessibility is intimately related with access to
transport, this thesis argues that by making the transportation system more inclusive through stimulating
NMT, food accessibility could be improved. To obtain an insight in how the people who suffer
the most from the uneven geographical development, the slum of Kibera has been chosen as research are. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, these ideas have hardly been combined earlier.
Drawing on three months of field research, this thesis aims to answer the research question: How can NMT promoting policies improve food accessibility in Kibera and with that obviate the
excluding consequences of uneven geographies?
By adopting a mixed methods approach this potential will be explored, both qualitative data and quantitative data were collected through tracing back analysis, structured interviews, group interviews and policy documents.
This thesis is divided 8 chapters. Chapter 2 provides an in-debt review of the concepts uneven geographical development and right to the city, food accessibility and NMT as a inclusive transportation mode and establishes a framework in which this research is embedded. Chapter 3 outlines the contextual framework of both Nairobi and Kibera. Chapter 4 presents the research design of this study. This section elaborates on the research questions, the visual representation of the conceptual framework, access to the field. Followed by the four phases of the research. The second last section discusses the ethics and limitations of the methods and concepts used. And the final part concludes the chapter. Chapter 5 presents the results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis. Chapter 6 zooms in on the effect of the uneven development of Nairobi transportation and how the city county has dealt with NMT. Chapter 7 links the analysed food accessibility determinants to the potential of NMT and answers the central research question. Next to that this section gives policy advice based on the outcomes of chapter 6, where light is shed on the uneven development of NMT in Nairobi and the possibilities for NMT to improve food access. The last chapter, chapter 8 is a reflective discussion on the research.
2 Conceptual framework
This chapter presents an overview and critical discussion of the key concepts of this thesis. The section exists of three different parts and conclusion bringing the key concepts together. Section 2.1 discusses uneven geographical development and right to the city; section 2.2 debates inclusive food systems in relation to this uneven geographical development; section 2.3 gives insight into the concept of food accessibility and its’ dimensions; section 2.4 reviews inclusive transportation system and NMT in relation to uneven geographical development; section 2.5 presents the theoretical framework in which this research is embedded.
2.1 Uneven geographical development and right to the city
This section explores the conceptualisation of uneven geographical development, how it influences the planning in of the city of Nairobi and how this unevenness results in socio-spatial exclusion. The idea of ‘right to the city’ provides a foundation for the reasons why it is vital to improve accessibility and enhance the inclusion of slum dweller.
2.1.1 Uneven geographical development
To start, this study is embedded in the concept of uneven geographical development. An intimate relation exists between the expansion of capitalism and the accelerated urbanisation. Capitalism depends on urbanisation as geographical and social surplus; which is essential for a surplus value. Still, accumulation of capital has its’ limits. For that reason capitalism also depends on urbanisation; it restrains the crisis of over-accumulation by absorbing the reinvestment of capital surplus in constructing the built environment producing new spaces for capitalist production. Harvey (1985, cited by Egan 2014) referred to this as the “spatial fix”. He also states that this spatial fix disempowers the people not owning the surplus. Which results in an unequal distribution of resources, people and wealth (Egan, 2014). The consequences on an urban, or metropolitan level are described as uneven geographical development. This concept helps explain why slums exist in the first place (Smith, 2008 cited by Shindler, 2014) and why slum dwellers are so vulnerable in comparison to their non-slum counter parts. Uneven geographical development manifests itself in many different forms and fields. The first notion of this concept was made 1999, also by David Harvey. He provides the following definition: “Uneven development occurs as
capital mobilizes particular places as forces of production creating a highly variegated capitalist geography consisting of an unequal distribution of productive forces, institutional arrangements, raw materials, the built environment and transport facilities, as well as differentiations of social relations and a litany of other factors shaping spatial relations” (p.416). Uneven geographical development is intimately related to the neoliberal agenda
in urban planning and "is produced by a constellation of factors consisting of (1) the embedding of capital
accumulation processes in space; (2) historical class, social, and political relations contingent to a geography that privileges some places, social groups, or activities over others; (3) the pre-existing built environment; (4) institutional and political policies implemented in localities; and (5) consumption preferences" (Harvey, 2006,
page 78 cited by Farmer 2011). The unevenness of development is a contributor to unevenness in accessibility; a relationship that reinforces itself and is cumulative: ‘stronger’ places attract
dwellers suffer from severe socio-spatial exclusion that due to the five processes identified by Harvey, keeps reinforcing itself. Socio-spatial exclusion is the process of geographical marginalisation of people for where they live or who they are. It is characterised by the inability to access or effectively use a whole range of resources (UN-Habitat, 2015).
Nairobi has a rapidly increasing middle class (IPSOS, 2016). Synchronously, the city-county government strives to develop the city according to the following motto: “The city of choice
to invest, work and live in” (Nairobi City County Government, 2015). The process of neoliberal
urbanisation encourages the local governments to retreat from social redistribution and integrated social welfare policies for the sake of business development (Farmer, 2011). Through, often donor driven, neoliberal tactics, the county seems to relinquish the responsibilities to create a city for all. The middle class and upper class are served with the open-ended development of privately owned shopping malls all over the city. All over the city, except for in slum areas. In spite of the growing middle class, in the past decades, it has become clear that the promised outcome of the free trade, open market and neoliberal strategies has not materialised. With the ongoing growth of slums and increasing inequality, the ‘trickling down’ leaves much to be desired. One aspect that makes this very clear is the severe increase of geographical and social inequalities.
2.1.2 Spatial segregation and exclusion
As long as the not everyone is included and able to participate in normal (social) activities in the city, the development of a city is incomplete. In the coming section, an explanation will be given why participating is a right, rather than a privilege.
The idea of “right to the city” was introduced by Henry Lefebre and was popularized in 1968. He condemned the ongoing disenfranchisement of urban residents by the political and economic agenda that was pursued under capitalism. He explained:
“…the right to the city is a cry and a demand. This right slowly meanders through the surprising detours of nostalgia and tourism, the return to the heart of the traditional city, and the call of existent or recently developed centralities.” (Lefebvre, 1996 [1967], p.158)
The capitalist model producing the uneven geographical development would be constructed with internal contradictions and crisis, in which injustice as a result of its failure to tackle on non-material concerns of the society originates. Like with the unevenness in development, this injustice refuses urban residents the right to own and produce the city. Lefebvre took the stance that meaningful solution could be found by addressing unjust structural relations that denied urban dwellers the right to appropriate and produce urban spaces (Alando & Scheiner, 2016). This thesis argues that in the context of Nairobi, the slum dwellers should have the right to the city. A way should be found the reclaim the city by reducing the unevenness in the development through increasing accessibility. The following paragraphs provide a line of reasoning how the accessibility of food through the accessibility of transportation can provoke a more inclusive food system.
2.2 Food accessibility
In the previous section, it has become clear that disadvantaged and disempowered groups suffer from the adverse effects of uneven geographies. Consequences of uneven development such as isolation and concentration of poverty are reinforcing itself. The resulting spatial inequalities are directly associated with access all products and services related to the ‘good life’; in this research related to food access and accessibility of transportation. This section focuses on food accessibility and access to the food system
Literature drawing on the concepts uneven development and food accessibility traditionally refers to the idea of ‘food deserts’. The origin of this idea is predominantly focussed on the northern hemisphere and therefore the formal food system. The circumstances in Africa are very different. In the African food systems sharp line between consumers and suppliers has blurred; especially in the informal food system. Hence, it is vital to consider not only the food accessibility for consumers but also the food accessibility for other actors in the food system.
Accordingly, first a global overview is given relevant ‘food desert’ and food accessibility literature in 2.2.1. To understand the accessibility to food for multiple actors in the food system, it is, crucial understanding what a food system is and how it is shaped in both the formal and in the informal situation; section 2.2.2 elaborates on these two food systems. Subsequently, in 2.2.3 the dimensions of food accessibility are outlined.
2.2.1 Food deserts
Looming from the new sub-fields such as the geography of local food systems and uneven geographies of food is the concept of food deserts (Battersby & Crush, 2014). This concept specifically focuses on the access to food and assigns a vital role to “proximity and density of retail
food outlets in a specific neighbourhood… as markers for access to affordable and healthy food” (Shannon,
2014, p.8). Since the concept was first introduced within the context of North America and the UK, food deserts have been quantified by mapping cities according to factors such as income or ethnicity and overlapping spatial distribution of supermarkets (Battersby & Crush, 2014). Although the significance of supermarkets in Nairobi is increasing, many citizens rely upon a different typology of retail: informal trade in the form of food stalls, cooked meal vendors and such. Battersby and Crush express a set of challenges that arise when studying the informal food trade in the SAA context, according to the traditional idea food deserts. Where conventional food desert theories assume spatial fixity of food retailers, the informal food trade in the SAA context, is market great complexity and fluidity. Many vendors solely operate at certain moments of the day, and some even move around with their produce (Battersby & Crush, 2014). Produce can be understood as food that is obtained with the aim of reselling. Moreover, the dividing line between consumers and vendors is blurred, as it happens frequently, women sell cooked meals from their homes. Whereas in the traditional manner of studying food deserts solely the consumers are taking into account, this research incorporates all actors that either consume or (re)sell products within the food system of Kibera; the so-called retail environment. Another difficulty with the presumed spatial fixity of food deserts is the limited recognition for daily mobility of the people (Widener et al., 2013). For instance, people go to work and perhaps buy their food close to the bus stop.
on the framework, developed further in this chapter. And so, an exploratory approach is taken to gain insight into the accessibility dynamics of food within food system of Kibera.
2.2.2 Food systems
The rapid development of subfields in geography such as food geography and geography of local food systems indicates that the importance is taking food planning into account in general planning practices. These areas require attention whereas they have direct implications for public policy, everyday life and socio-spatial politics of inequality. Different than the traditional geographies of agriculture, these new fields explore interrelationships between socio-spatial dynamics such as consumer decision-making, poverty, public health and accessibility (Gatrell et al., 2011).
Figure 1 Sustainable Food System (Sustainable Cities Institute, 2013)
The concept of ‘food system’ is used to describe all elements (environment, people, inputs, infrastructure, processes, markets, institutions, and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and consumption of food and the output of all these activities, including the socio-economic and environmental outputs. Albeit, this definition appears to be quite comprehensive, an important aspect is missing FAO (2015). As one can see in figure 1, the Sustainable City Institute (2013) added the following character to what a food system entails: access. Because of its importance, especially for this research, the definition of the FAO is adopted in this thesis and supplemented with the access element. But like mentioned earlier, the food system, is less straightforward than depicted in the figure 1; especially in the informal food system. Even though the next sections discuss the formal and informal sector, the systems intersect up stream. This is why some even argue it is actually one system (Battersby et al., 2016). For example, supermarkets are sometimes supplied by the same farmers as the wholesale markets downtown. Yet, like described in the previous section, certainly differences exist. Therefore light is shed on the both of the systems separately and how these systems relate to the urban poor.
2.2.2.1 Formal food systems
To begin, the formal food system behaves much more linear than the informal food
trade. The formal food system can be linked to the mass production and mass
consumption of food (Bernstein, 2015); the rapid demand for convenience foods, variety
and quality and continuity in retail stores; a process that can be linked to the vast
urbanisation (Roe & Diao, 2004). Responding to this demand is the supermarket
revolution giving exactly that. As a result, these supermarkets push out the once famous
duka; the kiosk on every corner of the street (Mwanki, 2016). However, the weakness of
the large-format retail outlets is that even though prices are lower than in smaller stores
supplied by small-scale vendors, buyers are expected to buy larger quantities; which
requires an investment that can be difficult to pay for slum dwellers. Additionally, the
urban poor often have to pay relatively high transportation costs to the super markets
(Kimani-Murage et al., 2014) (Humphrey, 2007). In this thesis, the context is broader
than just consumption and focuses on the accessibility.
When the terms for an inclusive food system are not met, for example by
inaccessibility, people are excluded from the formal food system; the domain of the
supermarkets. In the context of Nairobi, this translates to slum dwellers not being able to
access the formal food system. There right to partake in the same way as their non-slum
counterparts is taken from them. The way in which this accessibility is improved can
influence the terms for partaking in the food system. When individuals and groups are
excluded from the food system in developing countries, they search for salvation within
the informal food system. The subsequent section sheds light on the informal food
systems.
2.2.2.2 Informal food systems
Due to these uneven geographies, slum dwellers have less chance of participating in the formal food system than their non-slum counterparts (Kimani-Murage et al., 2014). To cope with this, a substantial part of the slum dwellers depends heavily on the informal food trade; coming with the disadvantages such as higher prices (Kimani-Murage et al., 2014) and greater uncertainty. Despite this, the informal food is considered crucial for food security for many people worldwide, and also for the dwellers in Kibera (FAO, 2003; Ahmed et al., 2015). With its’ informality, the local food system in slums come in many forms and high complexity. The informal food sector is characterised by close-knit relationships between food consumption, vending and production. Examples of this can be seen with women who sell cooked meals from their homes. Moreover, the informal sector is characterised by small capital investments; the absence of bank accounts and the non-payment of some or all taxes (FAO, 2007). Another distinctive characteristic is the fact that innovations or coping strategies are predominantly social instead of technical. Due to the close relationship with the family in rural areas, vendors are able to buy their produce at a relatively low price (FAO, 2003).
Dozens of slum dwellers suffer the consequences of social exclusion and inequality (Mohiddin et al., 2012). Even within the informal food trade, it can be difficult to access the food or produce to keep afloat. With the increasing number of (very) poor people living is slums,
2.2.3 Dimensions of food accessibility
To build this framework further, light is shed on food accessibility in the context of food accessibility. The access to food is often referred to as one of the three or four dimension (stability being the fourth) of food security. Since this thesis is not merely focussing on the food security of consumers but also concentrates on the other actors in the food system, understanding food access only in relation to food security is not comprehensive enough. The following part presents the crucial role of access. Moreover, with the blurred lines between vendors and consumers within the informal food system, the context and framework give an understanding the importance of food access by all actors in the local food system.
Figure 2 shows food access is one of the four dimensions of food security defined by FAO (2006). The second dimension is food availability, which refers to the availability of sufficient quantity of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or import. Thirdly, utilisation of food through an adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutrition well being, where all physiological needs are met. Lastly, stability plays of these three dimensions play an vital role. To be food secure, a population, household or individual has to have access to adequate food at all times. This implies certain resilience is required to deal with sudden shocks. Like described in the introduction, food accessibility can play a crucial role in food security, and therefore the inclusivity of food systems.
Figure 2 Elements of Food Security (adapted from FAO, 2006)
The FAO defines food accessibility as follows: access by individuals to adequate
resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
“Entitlements can be described as a set of all commodity bundles over which a person
can establish command given the legal, political, economical and social arrangements”
(2006, p.1). In food security literature, food accessibility is a tenet of food security
definitions. The following passage gives an insight what needs to be done to improve
food security according to FAO (2011):
“These types of investment in human capital, infrastructure and science are very basic, but they
insecurity will be eradicated if they are not made. We have made progress in alleviating poverty and food
insecurity and can do more if we build on sound analysis, good science and adequate funding for
appropriate interventions. This will require the commitment of the entire international community to
raising the profile of agriculture, not just for the next year or two but ultimately until everyone, at all
times, has physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.
From this passage, three types of food access can be derived: economic, social
and physical. Since many vendors run a one-man business, and consequently every task
have to do themselves, this is also translatable to the vendors. These dimensions are
presented in a way that the factors seem to be disjunctive, but an overlap between these
dimensions is inevitable. Regularly in other literature solely references are made to two of
these three dimensions: economic and physical (also referred to as geographical) access
as key determinants of food access (Lin et al., 2014); (Breyer & Vos-Andreae, 2013);
(FAO, 2008). However, this thesis takes into account all three elements, predominantly
focuses on the physical (geographical) aspect of food access. These elements are not only
scrutinized for the consumers; the end-users of the food and at the end of the
distribution chain. Yet, micro-vendors seem to serve predominantly as some
intermediary, often in the form of sole proprietorship, within the geographical borders of
Kibera and are therefore also taken into account.
The following paragraphs discuss the three different dimensions of food accessibility more in-debt. First economic accessibility will be elaborated. Where after light will be shed on the social accessibility of food. And lastly, the physical access to food and its’ sub-dimensions are amplified. The main factors of the model are based on the FAO, whereas the sub-dimensions are found in several other sources.
2.2.3.1 Economic food accessibility
Economic accessibility is related to one’s financial ability to purchase the food needed. Regularly food accessibility literature is linked to the poverty and the costs of food (in super markets) (Mackenbach et al., 2017). As a consequence, food prices in general, are likely to play a (key) role in low-income consumers purchase decisions (Lin et al., 2014). For poor slum dwellers this is different: often they lack the option of making choices and regularly have to rely on the nearby micro-vendors. Food expenditure accounted for 52% of the household income for 40% of the households’ spending in Nairobi’s slum areas (Ahmed et al., 2015). Since it plays such crucial role, food prices will be incorporated in this research. Another reason to include the food prices is that food prices are partially dependent on the transportation costs and therefore are linked to transportation modes. Additionally, it corresponds with in the three elements of food accessibility. To make a fair exploration of the possibilities of NMT all three elements should be taken into account.
Economic accessibility is even more interlinked with transportation when it comes to transportation of - and travel costs to- food. Whereas some authors understand travel expenses being a part of geographical accessibility and travel time (Burns & Inglis, 2007), in this thesis
The last sub factor with the potential factor influencing access to food is preparation costs. To save money, slum dwellers would perhaps choose for cooked meals instead of buying fresh vegetables. Charcoal and cooking-oil could be aspects of making the food expensive. For vendors, the continuously rising price of these products (Omondi, 2017) could perhaps make it unattractive to sell cooked meals.
2.2.3.2 Social food accessibility
Social food accessibility is linked to someone’s social circumstances and their place in the community. A factor that has been associated with social food accessibility is the dimension of age (FAO, 2008). Seniors are not able to have their vehicle anymore. Research in Philadelphia, United States, analysed at the link between age, food and transportation; e.g. the walkability of the city and the public transportation system were taken into account. Also, the relationship between age, transportation and food access have been researched. Although the factor of age seems to apply more in the context of the northern hemisphere, it is valuable to see if perhaps elderly people could have better access in if NMT modes are better served. Safety also has a geographical accessibility component. For instance, if a certain route were considered very unsafe, people would consider taking a different route. Safety here is related to crime and less to road safety. Whereas crime related unsafely has been identified as a barrier to accessing Toi-market; one the bigger markets on the edge of Kibera.
2.2.3.3 Physical food accessibility
Physical accessibility, also described as personal and place accessibility or geographical accessibility, is the dominant perspective in this thesis. In this paragraph, the sub-factors of geographical access are described.
Three sub-factors that are very closely interlinked are travel distance, travel time and transportation mode. Travel distance seems to be quite absolute. However, it should be noted that the most direct route is not always the one that is used. Some authors indicate route choice is made base on utility maximisation (Hoogendoorn & Bovy, 2004) while others put more emphasis on the experience or certainty (Ben-Elia & Shiftan, 2010). This experience can be linked to the sub-factors safety, presented in the previous paragraph and quality of the infrastructure discussed in this section. Travel time is intimately related to travel distance. However, factors such as mode, waiting time, quality of infrastructure and more can be of influence on the duration of a trip. The factor of transportation and travel costs (as discussed in section 2.2.3.2) is closely related to both travel distance and time.
The last aspect of physical accessibility is the quality of road infrastructure (Ahmed et al., 2015). Due to the poor quality of infrastructure, accessing (healthy) food can be difficult for some people. Moreover, indirect effects of poor infrastructure influence healthy food access, as there exists a high risk of dusty road contaminating the food sold next to it. Inadequate and insufficient infrastructure also has it drawbacks on transportation time and transportation costs as mentioned above. In the grounds of that, the poor infrastructure and traffic management travel time, and with that travel expenses, rapidly accumulate. Eventually, these costs will be passed on other actors in the food system through rising food prices.
Table 1 Determinants of food accessibility
Food access dimensions Elements consumers Elements vendors
Economical access Food prices Produce prices
Travel costs Transportation costs
Preparation costs Processing costs
Social access Age Age
Safety Safety
Physical access Travel time Transport time
Travel distance Transport distance
Travel mode Transport mode
Quality of infrastructure Quality of infrastructure
Initially, the primary focus was on the physical dimension of food access, considering the concepts of proximity and density are intimately related to this dimension. As mentioned earlier, the three dimensions have close interrelations as well. Hence, all three dimensions will be incorporated in the accessibility needs analysis, as different transportation modes also come with their economic, social and geographical characteristics (I-ce, 2000) and influence the ability, dignity and opportunity for accessing the food system.
2.3 NMT and Inclusive transport systems
This section outlines how the unevenness in geographical development influenced the inclusivity of the transport system. Followed by the section explaining what exclusion from the transportation system entails. The final section dives into the (inclusive) characteristics of NMT modes.
2.3.1 Inclusive urban transport systems
As mentioned previously, improving the preconditions for food access could make the food system more inclusive. Bluntly said, this thesis researches in what way improving the accessibility to transport can improve the accessibility to food. The unevenness in the development of the city also has its effects on the equity of access to transportation. This section explores inclusive transport systems related to equity in access the transport.
development and progress. However, this motorised transportation only accessible for a small part of the citizens. The most evident reason is the costs that come with the use of motorised transportation; particularly with cars. But also the lack of the adequate infrastructure and facilities does play a role and could result in compromising on the equity in access. Litman (2017) recognises the existence of horizontal and vertical types of equity in transportation. Horizontal equity, which is linked to fairness and egalitarianism, concerns the distribution of impact between individuals and groups considered equal in ability and need. Vertical equity is divided into two parts: vertical equity concerning income and social class, which is also referred to as social justice, environmental justice, and social exclusion; and vertical equity with regard to mobility need and ability. Which is closely linked to the universal design or so-called inclusive design; street design for all users and modes. These three types of equity in transportation planning regularly overlap and conflict each other. For people to have the right to the city, both horizontal and vertical equity needs to be taken into account with transportation planning.
Linked to Litman’s (2017) vertical equity in it is worth looking deeper how robust the transport network is for areas with different averages incomes. Likewise, it is worth looking into until what extent the streets in Nairobi are designed according to so-called inclusive design.
Next to the inclusive streets, the whole transportation system is important. This study conceives accessible and inclusive transportation systems as social inclusion within the urban transport. Therefore the definition is a transportation system that incorporates “process of improving
not only in terms of individuals and groups that are disadvantaged on the basis of their identity to partake in society… but also the process of improving their ability, dignity and opportunity for them to do so” (World
Bank, 2013, pp. 3-4 cited in Alando & Scheiner, 2016).
2.3.2 Significance of NMT in inclusive transport systems
This section elaborates on how NMT transportation modes contribute to a more
equitable, accessible and inclusive transport system; and explores why NMT is inclusive
and gives people back their right to the city.
Providing a more equal spatial accessibility could lead to better social equality and
reduce social exclusion (Teunissen et al., 2015). NMT modes are such an inclusive form
of transportation; for reasons that will be further elaborated in this section. Other
definitions for NMT are active modes and are described as human or animal powered
vehicles (Yelda, 2015). Here, the focus is predominantly on the human powered vehicles
such as walking, cycling and handcarts.
Through NMT, the equity in access could be improved. To understand in what
way NMT could contribute to the accessibility of food, it is key to understand the typical
features these transportation modes. The World Bank (2010) offers a framework (figure
3) with these features as well as some features that could be obstacles for implementing
or using these modes. Policies that promote NMT modes such as bicycles, gives the slum
dwellers the ability have a greater radius of action; have door-to-door travel, move
relatively fast through dense urban areas; give them the dignity to have their individual
and independent choice of traveling, moment of travel time; and create the opportunity
for more liveable cities. In the Nairobi context, this could potentially give slum
inhabitants the opportunity to have an increased action radius and to be more mobile
without being dependent on matatus. This could also be the case for micro-vendors and
market vendors in the slums, who are strained to paying relatively high transportation
costs and middleman accessing the food they want to sell in the slum (CGTN Africa,
2016). However, despite great dependence on NMT modes, Nairobi County only invests
20% of their transportation budget in NMT modes (Nairobi City County Government,
2015) Since bicycles as a transportation mode offer a greater radius of action, is faster
and the potential for transporting cargo more easily. The focus of this thesis is
predominantly on bicycles. It is not in vain that in the European cities the inner city
cargo bikes supplier and bicycle food delivery services rapidly gain foot on ground
Figure 3 Strengths and Weaknesses of bicycles as a NMT mode (edited from the World Bank, 2010)
Some of these features seem to be of greater importance in the Kibera context than
others. For instance, the little effect that NMT has on the environment and climate.
Indirect, this of course, affects the food security; climate change adaption and air
pollution regulation have been identified as necessary strategies to safeguard food
and reach foods and produce at greater distances. The weaknesses such as limited
luggage transport could be more problematic for the micro-vendors. In like manner, it is
for the initial investments that have to be made when purchasing a bike for example.
2.4 Conclusion
The conceptual framework provides the foundation for comprehending the processes regarding uneven geographical development, food accessibility and NMT as an inclusive mode. The uneven geographical development has excluding consequences and influences the accessibility of food and the exclusion from the transport system. Food accessibility has been placed in the broader context of food security, but in this thesis will mainly be viewed from a socio-spatial perspective. The main reason for that is that this thesis sheds light on the informal food trade and how both consumers and vendors access their foodstuffs. This study argues that NMT has profuse inclusive characteristics that it could enhance accessibility to the transport system, and with that, to food.
3 Contextual framework
The chapter outlines the brief context of the research on the city and local level concerning geography and demographics, food and the contours of the transportation situation in Nairobi. The transportation dimensions are elaborated on briefly, since the analysis in chapter 6 dives deeper in the current situation and responding policies.
3.1 Nairobi level
This section clarifies the contextual information by reviewing the geography, food system and urban transportation system on the level of Nairobi.
3.1.1 Geography
Nairobi is the capital of the Republic of Kenya; a country located on the equator in East-Africa. Nairobi was founded as an outpost for the railway survey team during the English-colonial era (Klopp, 2012). It is home to roughly 3,1 million people. The city is located at an altitude of almost 2 km and hilly. Accordingly, the climate is identified sub-tropical highland climate; a mild climate with two times a year a rainy season. Kenya, and particularly Nairobi, is the regional economic hub of East-Africa (Obudho, 1997). For a long time Nairobi has been known as “Nairobbery”, and although Nairobi is rapidly developing and presenting its’ hip side, the car-jackings and armed robberies are still twice as high than the national average (The Star, 2015).
3.1.2 Food system and policies
Zooming in on the food systems and corresponding policies; the issues with food security are inevitable. As described in the introduction, traditional food security literature predominantly discusses agriculture and rural food security. However, with the vast urbanisation, the food systems within cities are changing, and people are becoming more dependent on buying food. Traditionally street vendors bought this food and kiosks spread over the city that also sells
chains. A further blow for the traditional kiosk vendors are the harsh rules enforced by the municipality. Most of the policies and regulations are still dating back from the colonial era designed to ban the street vendors from vending in CBD (Muiruri, 2010).
3.1.3 Urban transportation and policies
The vast urbanisation also has its consequences for the urban transport system. Figure 4
demonstrates the largest mode share is walking and the trips made by car is only 7%. It
appears to be an apparent mismatch since transportation investments primarily
concentrate on improving the road infrastructure for automobiles and public
transportation. Moving through the city by NMT is considered to be extremely
dangerous (Khayesi et al., 2010). In line with this, Khayesi et al. advocate for inclusive
streets and inclusive transport system in Kenya; a system where cyclists, pedestrians and
street-vendors are taken into account. Their plea does not necessarily indicate the
physical development in the provision of transport and services, but rather a call for the
planning of inclusive streets. The same applies for this thesis, which predominantly aims
attention how the circumstances for accessing transportation can be improved and with
that make the transport system more inclusive to increase the accessibility of food
eventually.
Figure 4 Modal Split in Nairobi (Nairobi City County, 2015)
In the light of vertical equity in access, the accessibility to transportation for slum
inhabitants worldwide is very poor, both physically and economically. In contrast,
physically the slums of Nairobi are well served by matatus. This privately owned form of
transportation exists of minivans filling gaps of official public transit. Matatus are better
affordable than official transportation modes. Still, for many slum dwellers, this form of
transportation is still too expensive. In 2004 matatu fares ranged from 20 Ksh (0,18 euro)
to 50 Ksh (0,45 euro) depending on the distance; whereas 73% of the slum dwellers
earns about 1,06 Ksh (0,90) per day (Salon & Gulyani, 2010). These relative high costs
explain partly why 65% of the people in Nairobian slums walk to work, 2 per cent uses
the bike and 32 per cent travels by matatu. Around 68% of the slum dwellers leave their
home settlement to go to work. Also, 100% of the households have at least one person
who goes to work or school, but solely 39% uses public transport (matatus).
Accessibility of goods, services and activities is a relative concept. The way of
perceiving is dependent on the expectations in life and with that social expectations and
needs for transportation. In automobile dependent communities like many in the USA,
driving is a necessity. In these communities, non-motorized modes such as walking and
cycling are often stigmatised and regarded as unsafe (Litman, 2003). In SAA the
circumstances are very different. Even though the land use planning the city at large is
designed for cars, still a lot of the spatio-temporal patterns of the (disadvantaged) citizens
are more based on traditional and slower traffic (Khayesi et al., 2010); think of food
vendors traditionally the scattered over the city. For instance, it is more likely passers-by
are more likely to buy goods when they are walking or cycling than if they were driving
by in a car.
Nairobian transportation planning goes against striving for optimal design
principles, where all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, are included (Klopp,
2012). While inclusive design could relieve the congestion that is expensive and causes
substantial food loss during the transport. The reason for this is the small and exclusive
network of the major players in the decision-making process. These actors work in a
context where institutions for inclusive, transparent and integrated metropolitan land-use
planning do not exist. The decisions seem to be made on a form of planning that is
highly technical and elite-driven.
Despite all this, Nairobi County presented their first report on the planning of
non-motorized transportation in 2015. Promises are made to spend at least 20% of the
transportation budget on non-motorized transportation modes. How these investments
can contribute to better food accessibility, what is already done and what not will be
explored in the following chapters.
3.2 Kibera level
This section gives an overview of the geography, the food system and the local transportation system and access to transport on the level of Kibera.
3.2.1 Geography
Jungle, the meaning of Kibera in Swahili, is a slum located approximately 7 kilometres southeast of downtown, CBD. It is often referred to as the biggest slum in Africa; some statistics even say it houses over a million people. The slum is divided into 13 different villages. The location is visible in figure 5. The name Kibera probably refers to the high density of people living in Kibera: around 2000 people per hectare, making it one of the densely populated areas in SAA (K’Akumu & Olima, 2007). Kibera, similarly to other informal settlements in Nairobi, has experienced an uncontrolled expansion of housing and the most severe cases of poverty and deprivation prevailing. With people spending around 40% of their income on the rent.
Figure 5 Location Kibera within Nairobi (Bakker, 2017 in QGIS)
The numbers show that the people in Kibera are the most vulnerable to disease; poor family planning and a high number of teen pregnancies; women, retain high fertility rates (4.9) and high child mortality; inadequate health care (K’Akumu & Olima, 2007)
3.2.2 Food
People in Kibera spend around 60% of their income on food and are often food insecure and malnourished; with high and erratic food prices being a great contributor. A traditional and popular food is ugali, which is nothing more than cooked maize flour, which has insufficient nutritional value. A frequently accompanying dish is sukuma wiki a green leafy vegetable.
While crucial for a healthy meal and preparing food, the water prices in Kibera are extremely high. Studies show that the water rates in Kibera are much higher than the average in the city where people have pipelines bringing the water to their homes. Where in Kibera dwellers have to water points to collect their water with jerry cans.
3.2.3 Transport and infrastructure
Over the last couple of years, efforts have been made to improve the infrastructure of Kibera. In reality, this means that only a few main roads have been tarmacked. Since there are not many direct roads within Kibera, many people use the railway track, the Uganda – Mombasa railway to get from one side of Kibera to another. However, as one can see in figure 6, when it also rains this route gets flooded and muddy.
In these circumstances, it is difficult for all modes to move around. Let alone transporting goods.
3.3 Conclusions
This chapter has given a brief overview of the most relevant contextual aspects of this research. Sketching the picture of a city that in transition, a city where the economic development goes vastly. But the transition from Nairobbery to the envisioned metropolis seems to neglect the poorer part of the population. A development that is visible in the transportation planning of the city and the rising of fast-food chains and supermarkets and banning on street vendors. The slum Kibera is a prime example of an area where people do not enjoy the new developments. Struck by severe poverty, poor health and low income, they predominantly consume meals with poor nutritional value and experience grave difficulties with getting around; travelling in and outside Kibera.
4 Research design
This section presents the research design. It is divided in four sections: firstly, 4.1 presents the research question and corresponding sub-questions guiding the research; 4.2 gives a visual representation of the concepts; 4.3 explains step by step the methodologies used; 4.4 Ethics and research and limitations of the research; 4.5 concludes the chapter.
4.1 Research questions
How can NMT promoting policies improve food accessibility in Kibera and with that obviate the excluding consequences of uneven geographies?
(1) Which different typologies of actors can be identified within the local food system of Kibera?
(2) What are considered the most fundamental determinants for food and produce access by the identified actors in the local food system in the research area?
(3) What are the underlying structures and preconditions influencing the key determinants for food accessibility for food stations (identified in question 1) of the food that is consumed in the research area?
(4) How does uneven development influence exclusion of NMT in Nairobi? And what is the state of the current NMT policies in Nairobi?
4.2 Visualisation conceptual framework
Figure 7 Visualisation of Conceptual Model (Bakker, 2017)
Figure 7 gives a visual representation of the following line of reasoning: Slum dwellers suffer from uneven geographical development; this results in exclusion from both the food system as well as the
transport system. Since transportation is a crucial factor for food accessibility, this thesis argues that by
making the transport system more accessible and inclusive by stimulating non-motorized
4.3 Methodology
This section outlines the methods used and is branched into six parts: section 4.3.1 clarifies how the study area was selected; 4.3.2 explains how access to the field was possible. The following four sections are the phases of the mixed-method, sequential research according to framework presented by Ivankova et al. (2006) and is adopted and adapted as a guideline for this mixed method design. The first phase (4.3.3) exists of two parts (phase 1.a and 1.b). The first aim is to obtain insight in the actors in the food network in Kibera, the second objective is to get a better understanding of how relevant the food accessibility determinants of the framework play a role for these actors. In the subsequent paragraph, phase one of the research will be further elaborated. The second phase (4.3.4) aims to obtain a deeper in underlying dynamics of food accessibility determinants. To achieve this insight, the information collected in step one is used to generate the participants for the focus group interviews. For each actor typology identified in the food system mapping part (phase 1a), a focus group interview was conducted. The structured interviews provide insight in what type of barriers to food accessibility participants experience. Based on the outcomes, a selection is made for the participants for these focus group interviews in the next phase. The third phase (4.3.5) of the research gives insight how the current state of NMT in Nairobi will be analysed from the perspective of uneven geographical development. Section 4.3.6, explains the last phase, linking the analysis to the inclusive characteristics of NMT. All these phases are visually represented in figure 8 on the next page. Section 4.3.7 discusses the ethics and limitations in the research.
4.3.1 Selecting research area
The three core elements of food accessibility, economic, social and physical accessibility are tightly interwoven. But in the process of selecting the research area, the geographical (physical) element played a dominant role; considering food accessibility will be linked to a transportation framework. And since mobility is inherently relates to proximity and with that to geographical location and density (Pinho & Silva, 2015), it has an intimate relationship with transportation.
As a result, Kibera is selected as the research area; a slum home to almost a million people, the wholesale markets downtown within the distance that can be covered by faster NMT modes, and previous research providing fruitful and reliable information (Ahmed et al., 2015) to elaborate on. The original idea was to start with the structured interviews within two areas that had different features regarding the proximity to the main markets and the density of the vendors within those areas. Consequently, Mashimoni and Soweto-East were selected as a starting point for the sampling. Based on the data of the working paper of Ahmed et al. (2015) on micro-vendors in Kibera, which offers an overview of fifteen different villages in three different slums and the food selling strategies. Additionally, it provides an insight in the density of the food vendors in these various villages. Based on this information (figure 9), estimation to the main markets can be made.
Another crucial reason for selecting Kibera as the research area is that the average distance to the wholesale markets is around 7 km. A distance that is still convenient to cover with NMT modes such as cycling.
