Health, wellbeing and nutrition
Many residents in African cities face considerable challenges relating to health, nutrition and wellbeing, along with marginalisation or exclusion in accessing healthcare – especially those living in poverty. Yet these difficulties are often masked within wider data and policy debates by the so-called “urban advantage”.
Poor access to clean water, sanitation and affordable quality health services, as well as malnutrition, have made many people living in African cities – particularly in informal settlements – vulnerable to communicable diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the extent of health vulnerabilities in cities and the wider consequences for national and global health security, along with the fragility of food and nutrition security in many urban centres.
Improving integration between multiple city systems – including healthcare, food, water and sanitation, waste management, energy and spatial planning – is key to securing better health, wellbeing and nutrition outcomes for residents in African cities. This domain looks at the political dimensions underlying the ability of governments to provide affordable, higher quality health services and food, exploring potential policy approaches and interventions to improve access and availability.
Within the health, wellbeing and nutrition domain, we are focusing on the following cities:
LATEST NEWS from ACRC
Reflections on my time in Manchester as an ACRC Visiting Writer
The African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) Visiting Writers Scheme provides young African scholars in the consortium with the invaluable opportunity to develop their writing and researching skills, through four weeks of mentorship from a senior researcher at a supporting institute.
Lessons from Africa – for Manchester
A recent conference on African Urbanism has provided a useful space for me to reflect on what the African experience has brought to my work and that of my colleagues. This has included academic scholarship, professional and policy engagement and activism. Given their potential to improve development in Manchester and the role the University plays in this, two lessons are immediately worth sharing.
Podcast: Why do land brokers matter in African cities?
ACRC’s land and connectivity domain lead Tom Goodfellow is joined by Abdifatah Tahir from Mogadishu and Eria Serwajja and Muhamed Lunyago from Kampala for a conversation around the role of land brokers in urban land markets in African cities.