Influence of Globalization and Urbanization on the Structure of Food Systems in Greater Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of the food system in Greater Khartoum have gone through massive changes as a result of the processes of urbanization and globalization made headway especially during the early nineties which witnessed the oil boom in Sudan. Revenue from oil trade stimulated the economy and opened the Sudan to the energetic forces of globalization. However, it is unfortunate that globalization and urbanization took their course in an ill-advised and amorphous economic system and an ailing economic performance with widespread corruption and favouritism. The ultimate result was the widening of income gap putting more burdens on the poor segments of society who can aspire only for the bare minimum. To what extent these processes have influenced the food system in Greater Khartoum is embedded in the mutual interplay of many factors which can be conceptually framed in the form of a equidistant triangle whose sides represent, respectively, food availability, food affordability and food accessibility. It is assumed that any shifts in the dimensions of any one of these sides can lead to distortions in the form of the triangle. Many of the inherent negative factors are highly related to the prevalent political and economic systems.