Feeding Dar es Salaam: a symbiotic food system perspective

This thesis is a sociological analysis of the agri-food system that feeds most of the over four and a half million residents of the fast-growing city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It is based on qualitative research that has generated a picture of the food system that supplies the important foods for the majority of residents of the city. The research took an actor orientated approach and started from urban eaters and then followed the food back through retailers, processors and transporters to the primary producers. Methodological lessons are derived from this process in particular the elaboration of the ‘ride-along’ as a research method. Foods followed include maize, rice, potatoes, green vegetables, eggs and milk. Other foods such as beef and chicken have also been touched on especially in relation to marketing and slaughtering operations. Instead of dismissing what has been found as ‘informal’ or trying to fit it into structuralist paradigms, from orthodox economic or political economy perspectives, I have applied a grounded theory approach in seeking to understand the core ordering principles and rationality of this system that has shown a remarkable resilience over many years. Of particular interest, especially when looking at the functioning of market places and how new actors enter into the food system, is that more important to the food system than competition are various forms of collaboration. This study comes at a time when global food production and distribution is dominated by powerful transnational corporations through an agro-industrial food system that is widely critiqued for its negative environmental and social impacts. Many argue that this industrial food system is unsustainable, yet its expansion can seem inevitable and alternatives are seen by many as incapable of feeding the world’s growing and increasingly urban population. ‘Value chain’ interventions have become popular among ‘development’ practitioners and policy makers seeking to integrate more producers into the global industrial food system rather than challenging that food system. What I have found, and present in this thesis, is a ‘symbiotic food system’ made up of multitudes of small-scale and interdependent actors that produce the food and get it to urban eaters at a city feeding scale. They do this without any vertically - or horizontally -integrated corporate structures nor with government planning and organization of the food system. This food system responds well to the needs of urban eaters, especially those in poverty, and to the interests and circumstances of small scale food producers. It is a food system that outperforms value chain interventions in returns to producers and value to eaters and has social, economic and environmental advantages when compared to the agro-industrial and corporate dominated system. This challenges assumptions that corporate food chains are necessary, or desirable, to feed cities sustainably. The symbiotic food system that feeds Dar es Salaam is not perfect, but it is working and I believe worthy of further research and interventions to create a more enabling environment for such foods systems to flourish in Tanzania and elsewhere.</p

A critical appraisal of South Africa’s market-based land reform policy: The case of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme in Limpopo

In 1996 less than 1% of the population owned and controlled over 80% of farm land. This 1% was part of the 10.9% of the population classified as white (Stats SA 2000). Meanwhile, the 76.7% of the population that is classified as African had access to less than 15% of agricultural land, and even that access was without clear ownership or legally-recognised rights. An estimated 5.3 million black South Africans lived with almost no tenure security on commercial farms owned by white farmers (Wildschut & Hulbert 1998). The legacy of apartheid was not just the inequality in access to resources such as land, but a faltering economy that by 1994 had been through two years of negative growth and left the majority of the population in poverty (Sparks 2003)

“Informal” food traders and food security : experiences from the Covid-19 response in South Africa

This opinion piece looks at the substantial role of informal traders in ensuring food security, and other economic and social goods in South Africa and how they have been impacted by Covid-19 and responses to it. The state responses have reflected a continued undervaluing and undermining of this sector to the detriment of the traders themselves, their suppliers, and their customers. There is a need for a new valuing of the sector that would recognise and build on its mode of ordering and key contributions to society. This needs to include: shifting the narrative about the actors involved and challenging the concept of “informal”; planning and regulating to ensure more space for owner-operated small-scale food retailers; and putting in place a social-safety net to support them in times of crisis.http://link.springer.com/journal/12571hj2021Anthropology and Archaeolog

The impact of Covid-19 on black farmers in South Africa

Covid-19 is impacting on food systems and food security around the world, including in South Africa, revealed most starkly in rising food prices and increasing food insecurity. Debates on what kind of food system we need to respond to this crisis remain unresolved and lacking in a good understanding of the impacts of Covid-19 on farmers who are key actors in food systems. This article contributes to these debates by revealing the experiences of black fresh produce farmers in South Africa since Covid-19 arrived in the country and the government responded with a range of emergency regulations. This is based on in-depth research with 40 market-orientated black small- and medium-scale farmers. Giving particular attention to black farmers is essential in South Africa given the high levels of continued wealth and racial inequalities. The study has found that, despite overall growth in the agricultural sector, these farmers are facing many challenges and receive inadequate support. The outcomes of Covid-19 related impacts include reductions in production and incomes as well as job losses. If not addressed there could be long-term negative consequences that undermine the food system and reinforce existing inequalities. A holistic food system approach, better informed by an understanding of black farmers and the networks they are part of, will be valuable to finding solutions.International Development Research Centrehttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragn20hj2022Anthropology and Archaeolog

Street traders’ contribution to food security : lessons from fresh produce traders’ experiences in South Africa during Covid-19

Street traders play a key role in the food system in South Africa and many other countries. Despite their importance, the operations of street traders are not well understood and often undermined by policy makers and planners. This article provides insights into the role of street traders who sell food, in particular fresh produce, and the nature of their operations. It shares experiences of street traders in South Africa since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and derives lessons from this for their contribution to food and nutrition security. The article is based on in-depth research carried out with street traders and other food system actors that they are linked to in three provinces (Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo) of South Africa. It was found that the street traders were severely affected during the first hard lockdown and continued to suffer due to the drop in aggregate demand that has resulted from the reduced incomes of many of their clients. They have also not been able to access the government Covid-19 recovery funds. Despite these challenges, street traders have continued to perform an even more essential role in making fresh produce accessible. This is in contrast to supermarkets that have maintained higher prices and profit margins despite the state of disaster affecting people’s ability to buy. Street traders are deserving of greater recognition and support as they play a key role in achieving food security and addressing other socio-economic challenges. Improving the conditions for street traders requires securing more public space for food trading and recognising and building on the ways that street traders use space and organise their economic lives.Open access funding provided by University of Pretoria.https://link.springer.com/journal/12571hj2024Anthropology and ArchaeologySDG-01:No povertySDG-02:Zero Hunge

Chapter 10 School food and the promotion of a more just and equitable food system

School Food, Equity and Social Justice provides contemporary, critical examinations of policies and practices relating to food in schools across 25 countries from an equity and social justice perspective. The book is divided into three sections: Food politics and policies; Sustainability and development; and, Teaching and learning about food. Bringing together an interdisciplinary group of academics with practitioner backgrounds, the chapters in this collection broaden discussions on school food to consider its educational and environmental implications, the ideals of food in schools, the emotional and ideological components of schooling food, and the relationships with home and everyday life. Our aim is to provide enhanced insight into matters of social justice in diverse contexts, and visions of how greater equality and equity may be achieved through school food policy and in school food programs. We expect this book to become essential reading for students, researchers and policy makers in health education, health promotion, educational practice and policy, public health, nutrition and social justice education

Climate, environment and migration : experiences of migrants in South Africa

This article examines the impacts of climate- and environment-related adversity on migration from other sub-Saharan African countries to the prominent migration destination of South Africa. It describes factors and processes influencing migration decisions and identifies migration policy implications. Information was gathered through in-depth qualitative research conducted with 20 migrants now residing in South Africa’s Gauteng province, as well as interviews with key informants with expertise on migration and climate change and a review of existing literature. The principal finding is that although climatic and environmental stresses are not the primary drivers of migration, they play important direct and indirect contributing roles, often intersecting with economic, political, social and demographic drivers. Whether people respond to adverse conditions by migrating depends on the obstacles and facilitating factors, personal and household characteristics, and expectations of the destination. National and international migration policies need to more comprehensively address these increasingly important determinants of migration.https://brill.com/view/journals/afoc/afoc-overview.xmlhj2024Anthropology and ArchaeologySDG-13:Climate actio

Land redistribution and poverty reduction in South Africa: The livelihood impacts of smallholder agriculture under land reform

Since its inception in 1994, South Africa’s land reform programme has aimed to achieve multiple objectives, including redressing the historical racial imbalance in landholding, alleviating poverty and developing the rural economy. A range of policies has been developed to deal with restitution of historical land rights, redistribution of agricultural land and protection of the rights of people living in communal areas and on commercial farms. Delivery, however, has been painfully slow, with all key policy areas falling far behind their stated targets (DLA 1997; Hall 2004)

The ride-along : a journey in qualitative research

PURPOSE : The purpose of this paper is to show why and how the “ride-along” can add great value to qualitative research. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : The paper is primarily based on ethnographic research into food systems that the author carried out in Tanzania and draws on other research experience and existing literature on the “go-along” and “walk-along”. FINDINGS : Transport choices are made in all social science research and therefore deserve greater attention in research design. Transport will influence how the researcher is perceived and what they will experience and find. The ride-along, when done well, minimises the risks and adds value to qualitative research. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : Researchers need to be reflexive about transport choices and give them greater consideration in research design and practice. The examples from field experience and the considerations identified in this paper will assist researchers and their supervisors in this process. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : Despite the ubiquity of mobility in social science research, there is surprisingly little literature on the subject, especially related to the use of different modes of transport. The originality is in elaborating the importance of the ride-along and the value is in the clearly identified lessons for qualitative research methodology teaching and practice.https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/1443-9883hj2019Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Developmen