ABSTRACT
The Introduction to the book sets out some of the current debates in the field of food security and the way these debates have been taken up in various policy agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals. It identifies some of the interesting new findings from the research in three secondary city case studies: on the nature and scale of food insecurity, on the role of supermarkets and informal food traders in the urban food system, on the sources of key foods sold in these cities and on how governance impacts on food systems and food security. The chapter explains the rationale for the research covered in this book, how the case studies were selected and the research methods used in these cities. Some background to the three case study cities is provided, giving historical, economic, social, institutional and spatial context to the chapters in the book which report on the research. Lastly, the structure of the book is explained and a brief summary of the contents of each chapter is given.
