Food is central to urban health, urban economies and urban form. Roberts has argued, “More than with any other of our biological needs, the choices we make around food affect the shape, style, pulse, smell, look, feel, health, economy, street life and infrastructure of the city” (2001: 4). However, food has been largely absent from urban studies and urban policy, and the urban has been equally absent from food security studies and policy. This book is the first of its kind that together brings the crucial issues of urban food security, food systems and governance. It highlights the implications of a lack of urban food policy and planning in African countries and cities. It also illustrates how household food security and food systems are impacted by governance decisions made in the absence of consideration of their potential food security impact. It is intended that the book provides new entry points to discuss the drivers of Afri-can urban development trajectories. It is based on the premise that important contributions to debates on urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of urban poverty, and the relationship between governance, poverty and the spatial characteristics of cities and towns in the region can be made through a focus on urban food systems and the dynamics of urban food poverty.