Abstract
Visions of sustainable cities mostly conjure up well tended home and community gardens, where owners and residents plant fruits and vegetables that supply some of their livelihood needs. Indeed, home gardens can contribute to household food security but often fail to do so. Moreover, gardens can provide several additional ecosystem services and impact entire communities. This paper seeks to answer why these gardens often do not provide adequate services to make a substantial contribution to food security and identifies possible solutions. We undertook a case study in South Africa in a low-income former township area. The area is characterized by poverty, high levels of unemployment and food insecurity. We interviewed 140 respondents with home gardens to determine what role their own garden plays in household food security. Only 10% of households were found to be completely food secure. Of the rest, 39% experienced hunger that affected everyone in the household and 51% were at risk of hunger. Despite the fact that 72% of the respondents planted vegetables or fruits, the gardens did not contribute substantially to food security. The respondents mostly bought their food, with subsequent food shortages when they did not have enough money. The dietary diversity and consumption of vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables were very low. The most important constraints inhibiting urban agriculture in the study area were cultural practices, such as the presence of large, bare, open spaces, or “lebala,” the focus of home gardeners on ornamental species and lawns; and a reliance on purchasing of foods.
Highlights
Food availability, accessibility and utilization are the three dimensions of food security (Jones et al, 2013)
We developed a household questionnaire to capture the (Supplementary Table 1) socioeconomic data, food security, dietary diversity, home garden benefits and ecosystem disservices, reasons for and against gardening, plants grown in the last 12 months, and garden composition
The overall sample consisted of 140 households with respondents who self-identified as the home gardener
Summary
Accessibility and utilization are the three dimensions of food security (Jones et al, 2013). Food security is assured when “all people at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (World Food Summit [WFS], 1996). In 2020 it was estimated that between 720 and 811 million people worldwide faced hunger (FAO et al, 2021). The report stated that “the world has not been generally progressing either toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 2.1, of ensuring access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all people all year round, or toward SDG Target 2.2, of eradicating all forms of malnutrition”. Garden Food Security and Dietary Diversity (FAO et al, 2021). In their review on malnutrition and health, Müller and Krawinkel (2005) conclude that “diet-based strategies are probably the most promising approach for a sustainable control of micronutrient deficiencies.”
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