Household level determinants of food security in the City of Tshwane, South Africa

Abstract

Food security has always been a contemporary issue in urban South Africa, which is gripped by high inequality. This has recently been exacerbated by risks and hazards pertaining to climate change and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the study was to ascertain the food security status and the determinants thereof for urban households in the City of Tshwane. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Multinomial Logistic Regression were used to scale the patterns of household-level determinants of food security of 775 households, distributed in 73 clusters, from the 7 regions of the City of Tshwane, South Africa. The study found that 39.2% of the households were food secure, 16.6% suffered from mild food insecurity, 12.1% were moderately food insecure, and 32.1% were severely food insecure. Food security was significantly more prevalent in male-headed households, households with younger members, households with educated heads, and those that are employed. Household size and income were also determinants of food security. The results indicate that age, gender (male), education, employment, household size, income, and grant type were significant at the 1% level in extreme changes in food insecurity, while only the grant was insignificant in mild changes in food security, with none of the variables being significant in slight food security changes. Government social grants were inadequate to guarantee food security status. The study concludes that there are extremes of food security and severe food insecurity indicating inequality, with various socio-economic factors affecting food security.