AOSIS calls on all authors to participate in the open-access Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review journal’s 2027 special collection titled: Local Governance, Infrastructure Resilience, and Food Security in Southern Africa: Regional Perspectives and Urban Realities.

Across Southern Africa, local governance and municipal administration play a critical role in determining household vulnerability, market access, and urban nutrition. While regional development discourse frequently addresses food security at national or sub-continental levels, the direct intersection between municipal service delivery, local infrastructure, and localized food systems remains critically under-researched. Local food supply chains across SADC nations rely heavily on municipal capacity (including road networks, water distribution, electricity, market infrastructure, and policies supporting the informal economy). Socio-economic pressures across the region (such as rising poverty, youth unemployment, climate-induced droughts, inflation, and rapid urban migration) demonstrate that food security is fundamentally tied to local government functionality. Infrastructure degradation, municipal financial strain, climate vulnerability, and policy ambiguities directly jeopardize formal retail, cross-border informal trade, and local agricultural supply chains.

Timeline

• Online full manuscript submission opens: 10 August 2026
• Online full manuscript submission closes: 30 November 2026
• Expected publication date: 30 June 2027

Recommended themes

• Local Governance Transformation and Municipal Service Delivery in Southern Africa
• Urban Food Systems, Household Vulnerability, and Nutrition Security
• Informal Food Economies, Cross-Border Trade, and Urban Planning
• Climate Resilience, Water Governance, and Municipal Adaptation Strategies
• Intergovernmental Relations, Regional Integration, and Collaborative Food Governance
• Modernization, Digital Tools, and Technology in Local Food Supply Chains
• Civil Society, Community Food Projects, and Food Sovereignty Networks
• Policies, Indicators, and Institutional Frameworks for Sustainable Regional Food Systems

This special issue targets a multidisciplinary cohort of academic contributors, policy practitioners, and developmental actors across Southern Africa and the broader international community. Submissions are invited from researchers in public administration, development studies, urban and regional planning, agricultural economics, public policy, and governance. Contributions are equally welcomed from municipal officials, international development agencies, NGO leaders, and civil society advocates engaged in food security and governance networks across SADC. The intended readership encompasses postgraduate researchers, regional policymakers, municipal planners, and international development organizations concerned with African local governance, urban metabolism, climate adaptation, and infrastructure resilience.

Objectives

• To analyse the operational and structural relationships between local government performance, decentralized planning, and food security across Southern African municipalities and rural district councils.
• To assess the impact of local economic development (LED) frameworks, spatial planning, and municipal regulation in mitigating poverty, unemployment, and localized food insecurity.
• To examine legislative mandates, intergovernmental relations, and institutional overlapping between local, regional, and national spheres of government regarding food systems.
• To analyse how municipal infrastructure deficits (such as water scarcity, energy instability, and inadequate transport networks) disrupt regional food value chains, smallholder farmers, and informal food markets.
• To evaluate emerging digital tools, climate-smart governance strategies, Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) solutions, and community-led food initiatives that enhance local food resilience and emergency response.

Submission procedure:

For information on the submission process, visit the journal’s procedure page.
For information on word limits and formatting requirements, please consult the journal’s submission guidelines.

We will be happy to provide any assistance during the submission and application process. Kindly enquire at submissions@apsdpr.org.

All submissions will undergo a double-blind review process to ensure high scientific quality and relevance to the subject. The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision on acceptance, revision, or rejection based on the reviewers’ feedback.

For enquiries regarding this call for papers, please contact the guest editors:

• Primary contacts:
  • Dr Kutu Ramolobe, iYunivesithi Walter Sisulu, kramolobe@wsu.ac.za
  • Dr Guswin de Wee, The University of the Western Cape, gdewee@uwc.ac.za
  • Prof David Bogopa, Nelson Mandela University, david.bogopa@mandela.ac.za
• Dr Tando Rulashe, University of Mpumalang
• Prof Sibongeseni Ngcamu, University of South Africa (UNISA)
• Dr Ndwakhulu Tshishonga, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal

We look forward to receiving your manuscript.