Abstract
The South African government has committed to halving poverty between 2004 and 2014 and achieving household food security is their major objective. Access to food and water is perhaps unlike other areas of delivery, since they are essential to well-being and human development. The Eastern Cape Province is the second largest provinces in South Africa, but yet second poorest province. This study looks at the role of home gardens in enhancing food security around Nkonkobe Municipality. The specific objectives were to; investigate what people produce in their gardens; assess how much produce they obtain from their gardens; investigate household source of food. This study was carried out to understand the role of home gardens in addressing household food security in rural areas of Nkonkobes Municipality. A study was carried out among rural households in rural areas of Nkonkobes Municipality, to determine the role of home gardening on household food security. Simple random sampling was used to obtain a study population of 60 households, to whom an interview schedule and an observation checklist was administered. These were achieved through personal interviews in three area 20 respondents from each village. Primary data were obtained through structured questionnaire in those areas and data obtained were analyzed quantitatively. Results obtained showed that home gardening plays a significant role in food security of rural households. Households, therefore, should be empowered and encouraged to improve their practice of home gardening to realize food security. Findings of this study will be useful to governmental and non-governmental bodies involved in promoting food security in the rural households.
Highlights
1.1 Background of the StudyToday the world faces a fundamental challenge of ensuring that millions of households living in poverty have access to enough food to maintain a healthy life
This study looks at the role of home gardens in enhancing food security around Nkonkobe Municipality
The results show that rural household in the study area were food secure based on the percentage of the respondent that depend on their produce from the gardening which indicate they had access to food at available time throughout the season
Summary
Today the world faces a fundamental challenge of ensuring that millions of households living in poverty have access to enough food to maintain a healthy life. Numerous attempts in South Africa to implement gardens programs often fail to improve food security of the poor (Moorhead & Wolmer, 2001). Home gardens are considered a community's most adaptable and accessible land resource and are an important component in reducing vulnerability and ensuring food security (Buchmann, 2009). Small plots of land near the homestead have been used as home gardens (Sigot, 2001). They are sites that people grow staple foods but where they cultivate plants for income and for medicine (Gari, 2004; Nordic, 2005)
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