Rural-Urban Migrants in Mzuzu’s Informal Food Trading System

Abstract Rural-urban migrants across Africa are seeking better economic opportunities in secondary cities, often because of the prohibitive cost of living and deteriorating living standards in primary economic and political centers. The migration of the rural poor and its implications for the food system in secondary cities are under-explored. In Malawi, Mzuzu is a secondary city with important rural-urban social economic linkages. Over the years, Mzuzu has increasingly provided refuge for both rural migrants and urban migrants from primate cities. This chapter presents the results of a city-wide food retailer study conducted in Mzuzu which sheds light on the interaction between migration and food system transformation. The majority of the 485 informal food retailers had relocated to Mzuzu from surrounding rural areas. These retailers largely procure food products from formal enterprises within the city rather than the rural areas, creating low capital third-party food retailing enterprises with small profit margins.