Malawi’s population is growing rapidly. The last Census, in 2008, showed that the country’s population had increased by one-third to just over 13 million since 1998. This landlocked country is predominantly rural, with 80% of its people residing outside towns and cities. Partly because of this, poverty and food insecurity have been viewed by donors and international agencies as rural problems. Most research on food insecurity in Malawi has focused on agricultural production by rural households.1 Despite its image as a rural society, Malawi’s major urban centres are growing fast. In 1966, the total population of the five largest urban centres was 157,000. This number rose to 644,000 in 20 years and had doubled again to 1,546,000 by 2008 (Table 1). In 2010, UN-HABITAT estimated the urban population of Malawi at 2.9 million, and projected further growth to 4.8 million in 2020 and 7.6 million (or 32% of the population) by 2030.2 Urban growth rates in Malawi are around 5% per annum, much higher than rural growth rates of less than 2% per annum, suggesting that urbanization will continue. 