Abstract
South Africa is a food sufficient country. Native South Africans, however, continue to suffer from food insecurity at a household level, even under contemporary democratic leadership. Influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the study was conducted to determine the role of indigenous vegetables in rural livelihoods in the two selected district municipalities of northern KwaZulu-Natal, namely iLembe District Municipality (IDM) and the King Cetshwayo District Municipality (KCDM). A purposive sample which consisted of 130 participants (n=130) was drawn, and data were analysed descriptively using Microsoft Excel Software. Our findings point in the direction that indigenous vegetables have the potential to contribute to livelihoods development. It was also found that these vegetables can thrive under diverse climatic conditions, including both irrigated and rainfed areas. This is especially important in a country like South Africa which faces major challenges of water scarcity and household food insecurity. Most household heads in the study were unemployed and relied on government monetary incentives for survival. It is concluded that there is a need to include these indigenous crops as part of the main discussions in the food discourse and to recognise them as a tool to enhance livelihood development.
Highlights
Following the transition to democracy in 1994, many South Africans hoped that the legacy of the apartheid regime would remain in the country’s archives and present a socioeconomic transformation
For comprehensive socio-economic profiling, we recommended that readers familiarise themselves with the latest recorded findings from Statistics South Africa (SSA), obtainable from the following website: http://www.statssa.gov.za/
This study has provided insight into the socioeconomic status of rural residents from Ilembe District Municipality (IDM) and the King Cetshwayo District Municipality (KCDM)
Summary
Following the transition to democracy in 1994, many South Africans hoped that the legacy of the apartheid regime would remain in the country’s archives and present a socioeconomic transformation. On the 11th of March 2020, this announcement was followed by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration that the COVID-19 outbreak was a global crisis that needed a swift response (Jebril, 2020). This virus has been more severe among vulnerable groups, including the elderly and those with underlying health conditions such as hypertension, cardiac disease, lung disease, renal disease, diabetes, active tuberculosis, malignancy, obesity, and HIV (Mendelson and Cohen, 2020)
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