The Interplay of Land Use Planning and Urban Food Systems: Narratives from Motimposo, Maseru, Lesotho

The Interplay of Land Use Planning and Urban Food Systems: Narratives from Motimposo, Maseru, Lesotho | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The Interplay of Land Use Planning and Urban Food Systems: Narratives from Motimposo, Maseru, Lesotho Leemisa Simon Matooane, Johannes Bhanye, Verna Nel, Abraham Matamanda This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7045262/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Urban food security in African cities remains a profoundly under-theorized and policy-neglected arena, particularly in contexts characterized by regulatory ambiguity, rapid urbanization, and complex land governance. This paper critically interrogates the nexus between food systems and land use planning in poor urban neighborhoods, using Motimposo in Maseru, Lesotho, as a case study. Drawing on in-depth qualitative fieldwork, including 40 semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and photographic documentation, this study explores how urban residents navigate zoning ambiguity, infrastructural neglect, and informal food economies. It reveals that while formal planning frameworks often disregard food systems, residents adaptively repurpose residential plots for small-scale agriculture, animal rearing, and street vending, forming what this paper theorizes as Patchwork Urban Agro-Scapes . These hybrid spaces challenge dominant planning paradigms by demonstrating how informality is not merely a coping mechanism but a situated practice of Negotiated Land-Use Citizenship . The paper employs an urban political ecology lens, complemented by assemblage thinking, to examine the contested interplay between regulatory frameworks, everyday spatial practices, and community-driven food provisioning. It introduces novel conceptual tools: Infrastructures of Ingenuity , Care Ecologies , and Shadow-State Food Governance , to capture the invisible labour, gendered care networks, and informal institutions that sustain urban food security amidst chronic state withdrawal. The findings expose profound epistemic invisibility in policy and planning, where vernacular knowledge systems are routinely marginalized. The paper argues for a reimagining of urban planning through Participatory Food Urbanism : an inclusive, justice-oriented approach that centers community voices, co-produces knowledge, and transforms marginality into resilience. The study contributes to emerging debates on food sovereignty, and urban informality in African cities, offering empirical and conceptual insights relevant to scholars, planners, and policymakers grappling with urban food insecurity in the Global South. Social science/Development studies Social science/Environmental studies Scientific community and society/Geography Social science/Geography Social science/Sociology food security land use planning informality urban agriculture governance Lesotho Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7045262","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":528130434,"identity":"5221ff18-06bf-4502-ac5e-4fc6676df879","order_by":0,"name":"Leemisa Simon 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This paper critically interrogates the nexus between food systems and land use planning in poor urban neighborhoods, using Motimposo in Maseru, Lesotho, as a case study. Drawing on in-depth qualitative fieldwork, including 40 semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and photographic documentation, this study explores how urban residents navigate zoning ambiguity, infrastructural neglect, and informal food economies. It reveals that while formal planning frameworks often disregard food systems, residents adaptively repurpose residential plots for small-scale agriculture, animal rearing, and street vending, forming what this paper theorizes as \u003cem\u003ePatchwork Urban Agro-Scapes\u003c/em\u003e. These hybrid spaces challenge dominant planning paradigms by demonstrating how informality is not merely a coping mechanism but a situated practice of \u003cem\u003eNegotiated Land-Use Citizenship\u003c/em\u003e. The paper employs an urban political ecology lens, complemented by assemblage thinking, to examine the contested interplay between regulatory frameworks, everyday spatial practices, and community-driven food provisioning. It introduces novel conceptual tools: \u003cem\u003eInfrastructures of Ingenuity\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCare Ecologies\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eShadow-State Food Governance\u003c/em\u003e, to capture the invisible labour, gendered care networks, and informal institutions that sustain urban food security amidst chronic state withdrawal. The findings expose profound \u003cem\u003eepistemic invisibility\u003c/em\u003e in policy and planning, where vernacular knowledge systems are routinely marginalized. The paper argues for a reimagining of urban planning through \u003cem\u003eParticipatory Food Urbanism\u003c/em\u003e: an inclusive, justice-oriented approach that centers community voices, co-produces knowledge, and transforms marginality into resilience. The study contributes to emerging debates on food sovereignty, and urban informality in African cities, offering empirical and conceptual insights relevant to scholars, planners, and policymakers grappling with urban food insecurity in the Global South.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Interplay of Land Use Planning and Urban Food Systems: Narratives from Motimposo, Maseru, Lesotho","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-13 21:28:27","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7045262/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2337fdd3-d1a7-4337-b41c-59585fe4e7c9","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 13th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":56139697,"name":"Social science/Development studies"},{"id":56139698,"name":"Social science/Environmental studies"},{"id":56139699,"name":"Scientific community and society/Geography"},{"id":56139700,"name":"Social science/Geography"},{"id":56139701,"name":"Social science/Sociology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-25T21:08:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-13 21:28:27","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7045262","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7045262","identity":"rs-7045262","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}