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
New research: What does progress look like for household microenterprises in African cities?
A new paper, led by Stephen Gelb, outlines key findings from ACRC’s neighbourhood and district economic development domain research, which looked at HMEs in five African cities: Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Lilongwe, Malawi; and Harare, Zimbabwe.
Insights from the World Urban Forum 13: Co-producing knowledge for climate-resilient African cities
African cities are changing fast. They are expanding, absorbing new populations, confronting climate risks, and struggling with long-standing gaps in housing, infrastructure, health, sanitation and basic services. This was the central message of a WUF13 Urban Library session convened by the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos.
Reflections from the ACRC Kampala cross-project learning workshop
ACRC held a cross-project learning workshop in Kampala during the last week of April 2026., bringing together the Kampala city team, representatives from the action research projects, and members of the senior management and central uptake teams.