Addressing food and nutrition security in South Africa: A review of policy responses since 2002

Since 2002, a range of South African policies have attempted to address the disproportionate burden of food and nutrition insecurity on the population. Yet malnutrition among the poor has worsened. This study reviewed policies to examine their implications for food security and the treatment of malnutrition. Policies enacted between 2002 and 2017 were retrieved from government departments and the data were thematically analysed. A preliminary analysis shows that policy has aided production through input provision and capacity building. Taxation, school nutrition programmes and social grants are some of the food access initiatives, whilst micronutrient supplementation, breastfeeding campaigns and food fortification are policies specifically focused on nutrition. However, despite these interventions, food insecurity has remained due to gaps in and contradictions among policies and the lack of coordination in policy development and implementation, especially across sectors. To improve food and nutrition security, government must better engage with ideas about how to address food and nutrition security systemically, and develop the appropriate coordination mechanisms for a more holistic approach to this challenge

‘The food we eat here weakens us’: food practices and health beliefs among Congolese forced migrants in South Africa – a case study of Yeoville in Johannesburg

This study explores the cultural context and relationship between food, health, and illness amongst Congolese forced migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa. It specifically seeks to understand Congolese migrants’ perceptions of South African foods and the importance of Congolese foods in treating and preventing illnesses. Since the beginning of the political crisis in the D.R. Congo (DRC), more than eight million people were killed and thousands forced to leave their country to seek safety in foreign countries, including South Africa. Congolese who migrated to other countries experienced various ruptures which included not only the loss or separation with their relatives but also the change related to their eating patterns. The absence of traditional dishes and the consumption of food of the host country are believed to have a negative effect on their health. The significance of this study is to explore indigenous knowledge regarding food, herbal drugs and the health and wellbeing of refugees, and by so doing to promote a better understanding of their health beliefs and healing strategies. It specifically emphasises the perceptions or meanings that Congolese refugees living in South Africa have about food from the DRC and food eaten in the host country. Since food is part of identity construction, it is argued that land and the mode of production contribute to the quality of food consumed in the foreign land, which is believed by the refugees to be harmful to their bodies in South Africa. The study employs Kleinman’s model on the three sectors of health care systems to analyse and understand the impact of foreign food on Congolese refugees’ health in South Africa. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse and interpret data collected. Drawing on case study material based on semistructured interviews and focus group discussions with ten Congolese refugees living in Yeoville, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, findings reveal how Congolese refugees link their health problems to food consumed in their receiving country, believing that change in diet has led to them being weakened physically and in losing ‘supernatural power’ to defend themselves. More importantly, findings reveal that participants rely on their traditional food from the DRC, which they believed to be organically healthy, as a remedy to treat and prevent physical diseases. While the results of this study cannot be generalised to the entire Congolese people, they stress the importance of foodstuffs in the knowledge system of people, particularly in refugees’ communities.Keywords: food security, food practices, health beliefs, forced migrants, DRC, South Afric

Determinants for realisation of the right to food among adolescents in Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Globally, the youth population aged between 10 and 24 years is the fastest growing and faces health and nutritional challenges affecting their growth and development, livelihoods and future careers. The government needs to take necessary action towards the full realisation of the right to health, water, education and adequate standards of living, amongst others. A cross-sectional descriptive study using a mixed method approach was conducted. The study aimed at gaining an insight into perceptions about underlying factors, having an impact on the realisation of the Right to Food (RtF) of adolescents in the Sterkspruit area of the Senqu sub-district (Eastern Cape Province). It, furthermore, explored possible solutions and opportunities to facilitate the progressive realisation of the RtF for adolescents in this area. In-depth interviews were held with eight (8) key informants who were actively involved in the community. Fifty (50) adolescents aged 10 to 19 years completed a self-administered questionnaire and participated in Focus Group Discussions, stratified for gender and age. Through content analysis of qualitative data, transcripts were coded and emerging themes were grouped, using the ATLAS.ti 7 text analysis programme. Sixteen (16) percent of the adolescents sometimes had access to only one food source at home and have experienced hunger at times. The most pressing issues identified by participants, which compromises the realisation of adolescents’ right to food and health, was hunger caused by a combination of a monotonous diet, lack of agrarian resources, unemployment and mismanagement of Child Support Grants. Although government was regarded as the main duty-bearer responsible for the realisation of the RtF, it was perceived to be inefficient in taking sustainable measures to enhance food security in this resource-poor area. Very few participants identified adolescents’ own responsibility as rights-holders. The implementation of a human rights-based approach is needed for both the dutybearers and rights-holders to facilitate adolescents’ physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food

Community-based agricultural interventions in the context of food and nutrition security in South Africa

Despite South Africa being a food-secure country in terms of aggregate food availability, it is listed by the World Health Organization as oneof 36 high-burden countries, home to large numbers of stunted children. Recent findings, in the context of both over- and under-nutrition,have indicated that adult and child malnutrition rates have deteriorated in South Africa. The complementarities and synergies between foodavailability, access and utilisation need to be aligned in interventions used to address and strengthen food and nutrition security. This isparticularly pertinent in the context of the widespread AIDS epidemic which interacts with food insecurity in complex ways. It is against this backdrop that home-grown or small-scale food production is explored as a feasible contributor to food and nutrition security for the rural poor with particular emphasis on contextual and technical factors. By illustrating a few successful models of home gardening, the evidence for addressing micronutrient deficiencies in these types of interventions is presented. The challenges to establish sustainable home gardening practices and the efforts needed to address gender-distinctive issues are discussed. The case is made for community-based agricultural interventions as a critical component of the various interventions used to address food and nutrition security at the household level

Food System Transformation: Integrating a Political-Economy and Social-Ecological Approach to Regime Shifts.

Sustainably achieving the goal of global food security is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. The current food system is failing to meet the needs of people, and at the same time, is having far-reaching impacts on the environment and undermining human well-being in other important ways. It is increasingly apparent that a deep transformation in the way we produce and consume food is needed in order to ensure a more just and sustainable future. This paper uses the concept of regime shifts to understand key drivers and innovations underlying past disruptions in the food system and to explore how they may help us think about desirable future changes and how we might leverage them. We combine two perspectives on regime shifts-one derived from natural sciences and the other from social sciences-to propose an interpretation of food regimes that draws on innovation theory. We use this conceptualization to discuss three examples of innovations that we argue helped enable critical regime shifts in the global food system in the past: the Haber-Bosch process of nitrogen fixation, the rise of the supermarket, and the call for more transparency in the food system to reconnect consumers with their food. This paper concludes with an exploration of why this combination of conceptual understandings is important across the Global North/ Global South divide, and proposes a new sustainability regime where transformative change is spearheaded by a variety of social-ecological innovations

Nutrition Transition in Zambia: Changing Food Supply, Food Prices, Household Consumption, Diet and Nutrition Outcomes

The nutrition transition literature has generally drawn on epidemiologic and demographic changes to make its argument, because in many cases broader data are not available on the drivers of nutrition change. Going further, this paper draws on wider food systems literature, and includes food price and expenditure data, to join the dots from macroeconomic and food system change to food sources, production, and price; to household-level expenditures; to changing diets and nutrition and health outcomes, illustrated through the case of Zambia. Many of the economic and demographic drivers of the nutrition transition are present in Zambia, including rising GDP, high urbanization and increasing supermarket penetration. Food supply data show a reduction in calories available per capita over several decades, and low levels of nutrient-rich plant and animal source foods which make up a diverse, nutritious diet. National food price data show that while the cost of food has reduced overall, nutrient-rich foods are more expensive relative to staple foods over time. Expenditure on staple foods has reduced in the past two decades while spending on fruits and vegetables, animal source foods, fats and sugars, and processed foods has increased, with these change greater in rural areas in recent years, but already more advanced in urban areas. Finally, while undernutrition is reducing slowly from very high levels and hunger persists, overweight and obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases are increasing; and data are strikingly lacking on modern Zambian diets. The Zambia case study is placed within regional and global trends to illustrate nutrition transition changes that are now happening in rapidly changing lower-middle income countries. Policy responses include promoting the availability of diverse nutrient-dense foods, and concurrent attention to preventing under- and over-nutrition in surveillance and policy. This paper also sheds light on the gaps in information that would greatly improve our understanding of the food system drivers of the nutrition transition, and hence our ability to create relevant policy

Multiple stressors in Southern Africa: the link between HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, poverty and children's vulnerability now and in the future

Several countries in Southern Africa now see large numbers of their population barely subsisting at poverty levels in years without shocks, and highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, the economy and government policy. The combination of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and a weakened capacity for governments to deliver basic social services has led to the region experiencing an acute phase of a long-term emergency. “Vulnerability” is a term commonly used by scientists and practitioners to describe these deteriorating conditions. There is particular concern about the “vulnerability” of children in this context and implications for children's future security. Through a review of literature and recent case studies, and using a widely accepted conceptualisation of vulnerability as a lens, we reflect on what the regional livelihoods crisis could mean for children's future wellbeing. We argue that an increase in factors determining the vulnerability of households — both through greater intensity and frequency of shocks and stresses (“external” vulnerability) and undermined resilience or ability to cope (“internal” vulnerability) — are threatening not only current welfare of children, but also their longer-term security. The two specific pathways we explore are (1) erosive coping strategies employed by families and individuals; and (2) their inability to plan for the future. We conclude that understanding and responding to this crisis requires looking at the complexity of these multiple stressors, to try to comprehend their interconnections and causal links. Policy and programme responses have, to date, largely failed to take into account the complex and multi-dimensional nature of this crisis. There is a misfit between the problem and the institutional response, as responses from national and international players have remained relatively static. Decisive, well-informed and holistic interventions are needed to break the potential negative cycle that threatens the future security of Southern Africa's children

Planning for change: Transformation labs for an alternative food system in Cape Town, South Africa

There has been a call for more participatory processes to feed into urban planning for more resilient food systems. This paper describes a process of knowledge co-production for transforming towards an alternative food system in Cape Town, South Africa. A ‘transformative space’ was created though a T-Lab process involving change-agents advocating for an alternative food system, and was designed to discuss challenges in the local food system from a range of perspectives, in order to co-develop potentially transformative innovations that could feed into government planning. In this paper, we describe and reflect on the T-lab in order to consider whether its design was able to meet its objective: to initiate an experimental phase of coalition-building by diverse actors that could feed into the provincial government’s strategic focus on food and nutrition security. Our findings indicate that T-labs have the potential to be important mechanisms for initiating and sustaining transformative change. They can be complementary to urban planning processes seeking to transform complex social-ecological systems onto more sustainable development pathways. However, as with all experimental co-production processes, there is significant learning and refinement that is necessary to ensure the process can reach its full potential. A key challenge we encountered was how to foster diversity and difference in opinions in the context of significant historical legacies of inequality, whilst simultaneously acting for ‘the common good’ and seeking ways to scale impact across different contexts. The paper concludes with deliberations on the nature of planning and navigating towards systemic transformative change

Playing the role of a ‘boundary organisation’: getting smarter with networking

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