Rural household food expenditure and agriculture: comparison of agricultural and non-agricultural households in South Africa

This article maps food insecurity in South Africa and plumbs the data to women-headed households at the municipal level. Local contexts provide a better understanding of people's experiences by studying the impact their geographical location has on their economic status, and the impact their raced and gendered identities have on that experience. Localised information could also ensure that more nuanced policies are developed to address inequalities. Food insecurity is a marker of exclusion and poverty in urban and rural areas across South Africa, but women are more likely than men to be food insecure, especially in the rural areas. Data are combined from Statistics South Africa's Income and Expenditure Survey and Community Survey (both 2008) to arrive at a more accurate assessment of food insecurity at municipal level in South Africa. The National Department of Agriculture places food insecurity at 50%, while this study argues that approximately 64% of households in South Africa are food insecure, a result which has policy implications. Our study also uses data that provide a more nuanced approach that shows provincial and municipal variations that are much higher than the national average, which should support provincial and local government policies that address food insecurity more effectively. The article also argues that due to male-biased economic, cultural and community practices, women-headed households are most food insecure. In light of this information, the article provides a nuanced understanding of women's food insecurity in the country. We offer policy recommendations on how women's food insecurity could be reduced in the areas where it is most prevalent. The importance of gender-sensitive development policies, localised contextual knowledge, and innovative strategies that would assist women in their efforts to become food secure, particularly in rural areas across South Africa, are highlighted.

Background and setting: The global food price surge of 2006 to 2008 has negatively impacted South African households. Rising food prices adversely affect food security in South Africa. The ever-increasing prices for food commodities and lack of access to finance make it very difficult to strengthen food security amongst households in South Africa. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the impact of food prices on household welfare in South Africa. Additionally, the study attempts to analyse the short- and long-run relationship between food prices and household welfare in South Africa. This is done by determining how real household welfare responds and/or reacts whenever there is a shock in food prices and its fundamental determinants. Finally, the study attempts to distil recommendations toward a conceptual framework for the mitigation of the impact of high food prices on households in South Africa. Method: The Vector Error Correction Modelling (VECM) technique is utilised to estimate a regression model. Results: The results reveal that a 1% increase in food prices would reduce household welfare by 21.3%. The study, therefore, confirms a negative correlation between food prices and welfare. Conclusion: Short-run policy recommendations include: (1) subsidising staple food baskets for households in South Africa, (2) reducing prices of staple foods through the reduction of food tariffs and (3) reducing household expenditure on basic needs through subsidisation. These policy options could lessen the burden on households when there is a rise in the prices of staple food sources and therefore improve household welfare. Long-run policy recommendations include: (1) improving the unemployment rate in South Africa and (2) improving access to finance and credit for South African households. By addressing the rising unemployment rates and improving access to finance and credit in South Africa through job creation initiatives and improving micro-credit strategies, an environment can be created where households improve their disposable income.

Households are tremendously affected by changes in food prices. The extent of the impact depends on the income of households. This study is undertaken to analyse the impact of food price changes on food insecurity and economic welfare in selected southern African countries (Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana). The Panel Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (PARDL) model is estimated using time series data from the period of 1980 to 2016. The findings of this study showed that food price changes positively affect economic welfare in the long run for the countries. Households that are net food sellers generate a higher income when prices go up. Therefore, food price changes are a gain for these households, especially producers and net sellers. Furthermore, the study revealed that inflation and net trade affect economic welfare for the countries in the short run. As a policy recommendation, the governments of these countries can subsidise food producers, most especially producers of staple foods that are seasonal; this can stabilize food price changes. As a result, both net sellers and net buyers of food can benefit from food prices. In other words, the benefit of food price can spread across to net buyers, not only net sellers. Also the governments of these countries can use monetary policy such as increase in interest rate to combat inflation.

The world experienced an unprecedented health shock (COVID-19) which caught everyone by surprise, and destabilized many sectors, especially the agri-food sector. This unpleasant situation caused upset in the food production and distribution chain, and continues to threaten the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 2 which underscores zero hunger in society. Many people in South Africa were disproportionately affected with severe consequences on their livelihood activities, food security status, health status, and general welfare conditions; and as a result, social relief intervention was put in place or expanded. This study examined the factors influencing rural households’ food security status among the recipients of social relief grants in rural areas of South Africa. The study used a secondary dataset from Wave 5 of National Income Dynamics Study - Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM). The research applied descriptive statistics to describe the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, and pattern of income flow. Food Insecurity Access Scale was employed to investigate the respondents’ food security status, while multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the determinants of food security. The results showed that the majority of the respondents were black (99%), female-headed (54.15%), dwelling in flats (74.01%), with secondary education (88.6%), and heavily dependent on government grants (58.61%). Also, most households were food secure (71.69%) during the pandemic. Moreover, households headed by men were more food secure (62.84%) compared to the ones headed by the female counterparts (37.08). Multinomial regression estimates revealed that formal education (p<0.1), employment status (p<0.05), dwelling type (p<0.01), as well as household size (p<0.01) significantly determined rural households’ food security status. The study concluded that social relief grants significantly reduced the food insecurity situation among the rural households in South Africa, and recommended that the government should ensure the continuation of the social relief of distress grant to the vulnerable people who are mostly domiciled in the rural areas, especially women who are disproportionately affected by these health shocks. Key words: Covid-19, social grant, rural households, food security, South Africa

Food is one of the essential areas of service delivery required for a household’s wellbeing and development. Against this background, the literature suggests a high level of food insecurity among rural households in South Africa. Thus far, this study has investigated drivers of household-level food insecurity. Data were collected from 283 randomly selected respondents from Melani and Hamburg communities using a structured questionnaire. An ordered logit regression model was used to investigate drivers of household food insecurity. Descriptive statistics results revealed that most of the respondents from the study areas were food secure to mildly food secure (Melani-inland −73%; Hamburg-coastal −77.5%). The findings suggest that overall, the two communities were food secure. Econometrics results further revealed that factors like gender, household size, energy security, access to credit, farming, land ownership, and being able to afford to pay for water influence food insecurity of households in Melani and Hamburg. Therefore, to reduce household food insecurity, the study recommends that priority should be given to these socio-economic and institutional factors. This could be through improving gender and cultural policies which restrict women from generating income, training households about credit usage, and family planning to limit household sizes.

Use of grid electricity by rural households in South Africa

Aggregate estimates of food expenditure are consistent with such a possibility, implying income/expenditure elasticities close to one. However, the high degree of aggregation at which such estimates are made means that the considerable increase in price per nutrient as income increases is ignored, and the nutrient elasticities are therefore overstated. Estimates for a rural south Indian sample indicate that this bias is considerable and that the true nutrient elasticities with respect to income may be close to zero.

The impact of the surge in food price in 2008 and changes in income and its distribution on food security in the Sultanate of Oman is analyzed. The threshold of household food security was defined as access to a Nutritionally Adequate and Preferred Least Cost Diet (NAPLC). Changes in Food Security Head Count (F0: percentage of population unable to access NAPLC) and Food Security Gap (F1: a measure of amount of income that is required to bring all household that are food insecure to NAPLC) due to changes in food prices, income and its distribution were estimated using Software Platform for Automated Economic Analysis. With the surge in world food prices, Oman’s consumer price index of all food increased by 21.60 % in year 2008 compared to 2003. The average household income increased from 638.00 to 913.00 Omani Rial (OR) per month per household and the income distribution has significantly improved towards equality with the Gini-coefficient changing from 46.49 to 36.35 from year 2000 to 2008, respectively. F0 was 24.0 % with food prices, income and its distribution as prevailed in 2003. Due to the increased food prices in year 2008, even with increased income and more equal income distribution F0 had increased to 29.3 %, increasing food insecurity by 5.3 %. Had the food prices not increased the increased income and changed income distribution towards equality, F0 would have improved to 9.7 % by 2008 which is an improvement of food security by 14.3 % compared to F0 of 24.0 % in 2003. The 14.3 % improvement in food security would have been caused by almost equally through increased income (6.31 %) and improvements in the distribution of income (6.92 %) and due to interactive effect of increased income and improved distribution (1.09 %). F1 too was found to show similar changes in food security during 2003–2008 as F0. The average F1, amount of income required to bring all food insecure households to food secure threshold was estimated at 50.680 OR per month per household. The analysis indicates that food security in Oman would have significantly improved due to increased per capita income and improvements in the distribution of income had the food prices not surged in 2008. However the drastic increase in food prices in 2008 has instead increased food insecurity.

Rural households in South Africa are vulnerable to food and income adversity. As a result, they adopt a range of livelihoods strategies, including consumption and trade of woodland resources to improve their living standards. Mopane worms (caterpillars of the Emperor Moth Imbrasia belina) have been identified as important to rural livelihoods, as an alternative land-use option as well as in fulfilling an important food security function. Whilst mopane worms may contribute to food security, this safety-net function needs more critical and quantitative investigation. This study examined the relationship between mopane worm consumption and household’s food security in the Limpopo Province, South Africa using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the Tobit regression model based on a household survey of 120 respondents. The result from HFIAS showed that about 52 % of the households were severely food insecure, while others were either mildly or moderately food insecure. Only 16 % of the households were food secure. The Tobit regression model estimates show that proxy variables (i.e. income from mopane worm trade and the frequency of mopane worm consumption) measuring the contribution of mopane worms to rural household food security are statistically significant factors influencing household food insecurity in the study area. Implications for policy are discussed.

ABSTRACT: Hunger continues to be on the increase and food crises remain a developmental challenge. The incidence of food insecurity in the country has heightened in recent years due to unprecedented natural hazards, economic shocks and climate change, which have eroded livelihoods and worsened the country’s performance in food security-related indices. We therefore used the panel data from Nigeria to examine the food insecurity transition among agricultural households. The data covered four rounds. The food insecurity status of agricultural households was estimated using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measure. We explained the interaction among the states of food security of agricultural households across different periods using the food insecurity transition matrix. The determinants of food insecurity were explored using the dynamic probit model. The model addressed unobserved heterogeneity, state dependency, and serial correlation arising from the data and model. Findings revealed that the mean food expenditure increased across the period. Similarly, mean per capita food expenditure also increased across periods except for the 2012/2013 period where it dropped slightly. We observed a rising incidence of food insecurity across the period from 44.1% in 2010/2011 to 53.4% in 2018/2019 representing a 21.1% increase in food insecurity incidence. Widening inequality exists even among the food insecure. Our findings revealed that 87.6% of households are transitorily food insecure, 5.5% are chronically food insecure and 7% are food secured. The significant factors driving food insecurity across the period were the area of land under cultivation, the fall in the price of outputs, and the increase in the price of major food items. Coping strategies employed were eating less preferred foods, restriction in diversity of foods eaten, limiting food portions, and minimizing the frequency of meal consumption. It is therefore important that the government encourage the adoption of yield-enhancing technologies to ensure household food security. Rising prices of major food items and fall in output price gives a cause for concern over the macroeconomic environment in the country, which fuels rising food prices. Policymakers should exercise caution when implementing exchange rate policies that may affect food and output prices, given the impact they have on the livelihood and household security of smallholders.

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the impact of entrepreneurial competencies on food security among rural farming households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (SA). A total of 513 rural households were randomly selected, and the descriptive results indicated that 51% of these households were food insecure, and they were somewhat negative about their entrepreneurial competencies. The estimated results indicated that entrepreneurship had a positive impact on food security. The study findings suggest that stimulating entrepreneurship through developing entrepreneurial competencies among the farming households is important for improved food security among rural households in SA.

This study analyzed food security status of rural households in North Eastern Nigeria. Secondary data were employed. The data were accessed from the General Household Survey (GHS) for years 2013 and 2016, waves 2 and 3. 451 households were considered in each wave. The objective of the study was to determine the food security status of rural households, analyze factors influencing their food security and compare the output of different methodologies used to measure food security during the periods. Frequency and Percentages were used to analyze the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. Mean per Capita Food Expenditure (MPCE), Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index were used to analyze household food security status while Logit regression model was used to analyze factors influencing household food security status. Results from the descriptive statistics showed that male household heads, married household heads and literate household heads were food secure in both waves. Results from Mean per Capita Food Expenditure (MPCE), and Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) showed that more than half of the selected households were food secure in both waves but reverse was the case with Dietary Diversity Score (DDS). Age, level of education, and household size were found to be factors influencing food security in both waves and models. The results from the logistic regression showed that an increase in age of household head and household size will reduce the food security status of the North-Easterner’s rural households. Also, the result revealed that the food security status was higher in Borno, Gombe and Yobe compared to Taraba and tertiary education increased the level of food security status for MPCE but reduced the same for DDS. Based on these findings, the study recommends sensitizations on the importance of education and family planning for the rural household in North Eastern states of Nigeria. Key words: Food security status, rural household, North Eastern Nigeria

The study investigated food security and poverty level among rural farming households in Zamfara State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select 240 households while a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the food security index, and the Foster Greer Thorbeck (FGT) model. The study revealed that most of the respondents were married. The mean household size was 6 persons. The study also revealed that 95.8% of the respondents were within the active age of 25-54 years with a mean age of 49 years. The findings also showed that 75% of the respondents spent between N4000 and N10000 monthly on food. The Mean Per Capita Household Food Expenditure (MPCHHFE) and Food security line (2/3 of MPCHHFE) were ₦6,841.70 and ₦4,561.3 respectively. The result showed that 68.3% of the respondents were food insecure while 31.7 % were food secure based on the food security index constructed (that is 2/3 mean per capita food expenditure). The results of the FGT model found that 65.4% of the respondents’ equivalent to 157 were living below the poverty line, while 34.6% of the respondents representing 83% were non-poor. The poverty line was ₦ 9,122. However, the poverty depth index was 0.269 for the respondents, implying that 26% of expenditure is needed to bring the respondents up to the poverty line. The poverty severity for the respondents was 0.1080 implying that the poorest respondents accounted for 10.8% only in the study area. The study, therefore, recommends the need for the establishment of empowerment programmes and skill acquisition centres that will allow diverse income options for rural farming households. 
 
 Keywords: food security, poverty level, rural farming households.

Achieving food security represents a top policy priority around the world given that the levels of hunger and malnutrition have remained disturbingly high. Recent years have seen the nutritional status and food security of millions of people being further undermined by high and volatile food prices.Large and unexpected changes in food prices represent an important risk factor and constitute serious threat to food security, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. The study therefore examined the effects of changes in food prices on food security in Nigeria using monthly and annual time series data over the period of 2000 to 2020.The study used Coefficient of Variation (CV) to estimate changes in food prices (food price volatility) while the Autoregressive Distributed lag(ARDL)Model was employed to determine the response of national food security to changes in food prices. The results show that theprices of most food items witnessed a forward leap between the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2012with the price of rice almost experiencing a threefold rise. In general, changes or volatility in food prices have been decreasing, with the highest volatility of about 6% recorded in the first subperiod (2000-2006)- a value higher than that of the overall period (4.6% in 2000-2020). Food price volatility was shown to have significant effect on per capita food supply variability and average energy supply dietary adequacy, both of which were used as measures of food security in the study.The significant impact of food price volatility on per capita food supply variability suggests the need for government to provide agricultural price support and inventory management strategies to farmers, particularly the smallholders, who account for a large percentage of agricultural production in Nigeria. Government can also adopt a short term policy mix of establishing regionally coordinated food reserves while strengthening social protection measures and coverage in order to secure national food security.

Indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) play a role in food security, health, and income generation. Most of these vegetables are a treasured source of vitamins and are frequently used as a supplement for staple diets. However, there are concerns regarding the determinants that condition the use of ILVs for different purposes among rural households. As much as South Africa is known to be food-sufficient at the national level, the same cannot be said at the household level. This is because some households, particularly in rural areas, have been battling with food insecurity and lacking means of earning a living. One way some rural households may seek to cope with the threat of food and nutrition insecurity is to include indigenous vegetables in their daily diets. Therefore, this study analyzed the determinants of the use of ILVs by rural households in Alfred Nzo District, Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A sample of 106 rural households was considered using a simple random sampling method through a lottery technique, and cross-sectional primary data was collected using a questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. Household heads were used as units of analysis. The study used a multinomial logistic regression model to analyze the determinants for different uses of ILVs. Results revealed that the age of a household head, education status, nutrition, and health benefits from ILVs positively influence the households to use ILVs as an income or food source. Household size, gender of a household head, farm income, employment status of a household head, and seasonal production or availability of ILVs negatively influenced households to use ILVs as an income or food source. The results further revealed that the age of a household head, farm income, nutrition, and health benefits from ILVs positively influenced the households to use ILVs as a medicinal or food source. On the other hand, household size, education status, employment status of a household head, and seasonal production or availability of ILVs negatively influenced households to use ILVs as medicinal or food sources. The study recommends that South Africa use public governments to encourage and create awareness of the economic and social value of ILVs and strengthen the use of ILVs in the communities, particularly vulnerable communities, and groups. Key words: Consumers, development, Eastern Cape, food security, income, indigenous, nutrition, well-being