Women often fare even worse than men in the labor market because they have less access to formal- sector jobs. In some cities, urban agriculture is an important coping strategy for households. Because women often have the responsibility for food procurement for the household, they are frequently involved in urban agricultural production and sales. Urban agriculture presents a number of challenges, including competition for scarce land, degradation of soils, and pollution. At the same time, urban agriculture offers new potential for recycling urban wastes, saving on marketing-transport costs and providing the poor with employment.
Urban diets are generally more diversified than rural diets.
The relatively high cost of traditional staples in urban areas, as well as the greater range of potential substitute' foods, and the opportunity cost of women's preparation time are important determinants of the greater diversity of urban diets. Street foods are a major feature of urban eating, but the health and nutritional consequences of this pattern especially for young children have not been investigated. The trade-off between greater convenience and perhaps lower cost on the one hand, and poor nutritional quality and high risks of contamination on the other hand, remains to be fully explained. Poor urban communities suffer an alarming lack of access to basic water, sewage, and rubbish disposal services, which makes it almost impossible for them to reduce contamination of water and food, maintain adequate levels of hygiene, or control insect-vectors of disease. While infant and child mortality are generally lower in urban than in rural areas, the incidence of a number of common childhood diseases such as diarrhea and respiratory illnesses may actually be higher.