Food security in South Africa: are the correlates the same for rural and urban households?

I.B Oluwatayo,M.I Marutha,M.P Modika

doi:10.26656/fr.2017.5(1).298

Abstract

Food security is a serious issue topping the developmental agenda of most countries across the globe. This is one of the key issues highlighted in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of which most countries are signatories to. South Africa, a developing country in Africa is not spared of the pang of food insecurity considering the number of inhabitants of the country that are food insecure especially in the rural communities of the country. This review paper, therefore, explores and correlates food security in South Africa to ascertain whether the drivers in the rural and urban areas are the same. Delineation of these correlates is considered to be pertinent for right targeting of the poor and highly vulnerable households and individual since national food security is not tantamount to food security at household and individual levels. The paper concludes that income and educational status of households are key determinants of food security and hence, the need to intensify efforts at enhancing the capacity of households in South Africa through education to translate for better jobs and increase income-earning opportunities.

Highlights

Africa cannot access adequate food and that theFood security has always been a challenge in developing countries especially in sub-Sahara Africa because there has never been a one cap fits all definition of this concept
In the 2010/2011 financial year, food security was re -prioritised as one of the top priorities for the South African government (Ramaila et al, 2011). This is in line with South Africa’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) which aims to halve the proportion of people who go hungry over the period of 1990 and 2015 and to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014
After South Africa gained its freedom from the apartheid regime, the focus shifted and policies were implemented to advance and make sure they tackle the issues of food insecurity

Summary

Introduction

Food security has always been a challenge in developing countries especially in sub-Sahara Africa because there has never been a one cap fits all definition of this concept. A huge amount of money is spent each year with the intentions to reduce hunger yet the definition of food security makes it difficult to conclude if the objective is being met or not on a yearly basis To meet this objective, those who are in the greatest risk of food insecurity should be prioritised first when food security programmes are to take place. In the 2010/2011 financial year, food security was re -prioritised as one of the top priorities for the South African government (Ramaila et al, 2011) This is in line with South Africa’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) which aims to halve the proportion of people who go hungry over the period of 1990 and 2015 and to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014. Livestock and horticulture are the main agricultural sectors of South Africa with wine and fruit production growing substantially in the past decade (Van der Merwe, 2011)

The state of food security in South Africa

Determinants of food security in South Africa – rural and urban dichotomy

Findings

Conclusion