Food Security In South Africa Research Articles

To feed or not to feed: biofuels vs food security in South Africa

In recent years we have seen the number of people who accept global warming as a fact increase dramatically and now more than ever we need carbon emission-curbing solutions. One group of solutions that is being hailed as the best way to reduce carbon emissions are biofuels. It is said that Biofuels are a complementary and alternative energy source to fossil fuels and they can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to better environmental conditions for all people on our planet, they can increase agricultural efficiency and create job opportunities in agriculture, industry and science. However, some say that biofuels are not the miracle cure they profess to be. With our global population higher than ever, and global warming affecting crop growth, there is a fear that we will not be able to feed our people in the near future, and this raises questions as to whether we should waste over 100 million tonnes of valuable crop per year on biofuels. South Africa is the world's 14th largest carbon emitter and so we should start addressing the issue immediately. So what should the South African government and other governments around the world be doing? Before such a question can be answered the facts must be examined.

Some considerations for supporting household food production in South Africa

abstract Recent research on food security in South Africa indicates that household food production is important to household food security in rural areas. While this research highlights the constraints experienced by such producers and the contribution of African leafy vegetables to household food security, seemingly little research has considered the gender dimension of this type of agricultural production. With socio-economic and environmental conditions as an important backdrop, a gender analysis of a rural village in Limpopo Province, South Africa, indicates the different gender roles and responsibilities of household members and sheds light on current food production practices of female producers. This analysis identifies areas where support services can focus their attention. Examination of the current provision of agricultural support services indicates their lack of a gender analysis and the subsequent inappropriateness of the gender-insensitive services provided. The following recommendations are made: (1) Prior to implementing support services a gender analysis of local roles and responsibilities should be conducted, and the findings should guide the design and delivery of support; (2) the roles and responsibilities of women in ensuring adequate household food supplies need to be acknowledged and supported, while the constraints they experience in ensuring household food security should be addressed; (3) current agricultural practices need to be acknowledged and understood so that introduced support is informed and can supplement them instead of ignoring them outright; (4) rather than creating new spaces for food production for a handful of residents, using technologies that cannot be replicated by most households, an alternative strategy would be to improve existing spaces thus reaching more women and improving their household food supplies; (5) ultimately, agricultural support services must be site-specific and, where possible, household-specific rather than universal in design and application. Services should enhance the capacity of local people to adopt appropriate technologies and recommendations; (6) there is a need to increase the number of extension officers within remote rural areas so that they are able to deal more regularly and effectively with the communities they serve. Simultaneously they need to be better equipped in terms of skills and expertise so that they can better deal with the situations they encounter; (7) national commitments, such as extending the supply of water and electricity to rural villages, need to be closely monitored to ensure that they are met. They may well reduce the burden of time on rural women who are responsible for household water and energy supplies; and (8) provision of services to rural villages and households increasingly requires greater interdepartmental coordination and integration and implementation at the local level. Better skilled, equipped and supported extension officers could play a crucial role in this process.

The contribution of subsistence farming to food security in South Africa

Poor households access their food from the market, subsistence production and transfers from public programmes or other households. In the past rural households produced most of their own food, but recent studies have shown an increase in dependence on market purchases by both urban and rural households, in some cases reaching 90% of the food supplies. Food expenditures can account for as much as 60–80% of total household income for low-income households in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Subsistence/smallholder agriculture can play an important role in reducing the vulnerability of rural and urban food-insecure households, improving livelihoods, and helping to mitigate high food price inflation. There is a need to significantly increase the productivity of subsistence/smallholder agriculture and ensure long-term food security. This can be achieved by encouraging farmers to pursue sustainable intensification of production through the use of improved inputs. This will require a dramatic increase in the use of fertiliser, organic inputs and conservation investments, combined with the development of well-functioning input and output markets to help farmers acquire and use improved inputs, market their (surplus) output and reduce transaction costs and risks. Increased productivity will reduce pressure on marginal lands, as the intensification of cultivated land will reduce pressure to crop fragile marginal lands. There is a need to determine methods of identifying cost-effective ways to improve access to inputs by, among other things, improving delivery, and assisting farmers to earn cash to purchase inputs and invest in infrastructure, thereby improving food security.

Exploring Statistics South Africa's national household surveys as sources of information about household-level food security

This article seeks to contribute to an understanding of household-level food security in South Africa using publicly available household survey data from Statistics South Africa. The two datasets that are used in particular are the General Household Survey, an annual household survey that began in 2002, and the Income and Expenditure Survey of 2005/06. Because these surveys are not designed for the analysis of household-level food security, it is not possible to do the kind of detailed analysis made possible by purpose-designed surveys. However these datasets have some value in respect of understanding food security, namely: large sample sizes; the depth of complementary types of information that assist in contextualising the experience of food insecurity and, in the case of the General Household Survey, regularity. Among the findings are a decline in the experience of hunger during the period 2002–2007, and significantly lower food expenditure per capita in rural areas, suggesting a greater extent of ‘self-provisioning’ than is commonly assumed.

Conservation of African Leafy Vegetables in South Africa

The nutritional and cultural importance of African Leafy Vegetables has become very important in South Africa in the past few years. Recent research has also confirmed these issues, leading to the incorporation of African Vegetables into the core business of the ARC. ARC -Roodepl aat wants to improve the distribution and conservation status of African Leafy Vegetables. Geographical collection data on Amarant, Cleome gynandra, Corchorus olitorius and Vigna inguiculata was obtained from the National Botanical Institute and the data w as analyzed with DIVA and Flora map. Ecogeographical distribution maps were drawn to predict the possible distribution of the species. Germplasm of African Leafy Vegetables was collected during routine visits and the conservation status was discussed with participants in the study areas of Arthurstone in Bushbuckridge, Watershed near Ladysmith and Mars/Glenroy near Polokwane. Germplasm of various species were also collected in collaboration with the Plant Genetic Resource Centre (NPGRC) of the Department of Agriculture in Arthurstone and Watershed. The NPGRC included leafy vegetables in their mandate since this trip. Seed flow diagrams were used to discuss the Watershed com munity’s seed exchange systems. It was clear when discussing African leafy vegetable s in communities that their conservation and utilization are declining. Also looking at the trendlines of African Vegetables availability and utilization it is clear that the use and availability of African Leafy vegetables are declining due to various rea sons. Two major reasons are the negative image of the African Leafy Vegetables and the increased use of “exotic” vegetables like spinach and carrots. The active promotion, use and conservation of African Leafy Vegetables are important if we want to increase the production potential and potential contribution towards food security in South Africa. This will ensure that the status of these crops is enhanced, specifically their contributing towards sustainable nutrition as well as sustainable production. Resul ts from promotion activities in the project (reported in another paper) indicated that the negative image of African Leafy Vegetables could be reversed and also had an affect on the roll -out of the project to other areas of research such as plant protection, nutritional analysis and food safety, crop science and indigenous knowledge systems.

Water management options for food security in South Africa: scenarios, simulations and policy implications

Recent research activities of the International Water Management Institute on water and food security have led to the development of a user‐friendly simulation model, Podium, to test national policy options on water allocation to different uses. This article presents an application of the model to South Africa, where water resources development and management constitute a high national priority. Data on demography, nutritional requirements, food imports and exports, climate and hydrology are used to create scenarios about meeting future water requirements for food production while simultaneously satisfying the water requirements of other sectors. The simulation results highlight the need to improve productivity in irrigation and also intensify rainfed agriculture to avoid future food insecurity, especially under high population projections. Merely expanding irrigated areas will not make significant impacts on national‐level food security. There also appears to be scope for increasing domestic per capita water consumption without altering current diversions for agriculture and other requirements.

Children Ensuring their own Food Security in South Africa

As the first in the series of articles on food security for this volume of Development, Gerrie Albertse and Elena Mancusi-Materi illustrate how initiation of school children into innovative technologies has fostered mechanisms of social mobilization towards enhanced food security in South Africa. In a system where children grow their own food and are trained in sustainable agricultural practices, not only are children attaining better nutritional standards and more balanced diets, but also a participatory approach to school feeding programmes is contributing to overall community development The example is drawn from a research case study accomplished within the framework of a SID-WFP Project on Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods: Local Innovations against Hunger.