Addressing food insecurity in Richmond area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: The role of cash transfers

Abstract

Food insecurity is one of the national priorities in South Africa. Cash transfer programs are hypothesized to alleviate short-term deprivations, regularize consumption, and reduce the adoption of negative coping strategies. This study estimates the role play of cash transfers in enhancing food security in South Africa. The household food security access scale (HFIAS) was used to estimate food security status of 180 sampled households. An endogenous switching poisson model was used to examine how household food insecurity was affected by access to cash transfers. The findings indicate that the household food security was statistically significantly influenced by access to cash transfers, household head gender, access to finance, access to farm-based organizations (FBO), access to cooperatives, and agricultural training. As a result, this study recommends the South African government and other donor organizations to expand cash transfer programs among low-income households in rural South Africa. Access to cash transfers is a key component of achieving enhanced household food security.