A comparative analysis of alternative food security indicators, using farm workers in the Northern Cape Province as a case study

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)The concept of food insecurity is complex and difficult to measure. Food insecurity is measured at different levels – global, national, household and individual. In order to have appropriate assessments of food security status, it is important to use the correct measure. This study focused on explaining three major indicators of household food security in measuring the different dimensions of food security (availability, access, utilization and stability). The contribution of this study is to add to the literature and determine how appropriately different indicators measure food security. The study explored the relationship between the three alternative indicators of food security by comparing them, using data collected on farm workers in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. From the results of the study, it was concluded that most of the surveyed farm workers in the Northern Cape Province are food insecure. This conclusion was arrived at because of two indicators. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) reported 42.8% of farm workers as severely food insecure; 42.8% as moderately food insecure; and 13.9% as mildly food insecure. The Coping Strategies Index (CSI) reported 56.2% of farm workers as food insecure. The Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) reported a higher dietary diversity in farm workers (71.8%)

Evidence against a simple two-component model for the far-infrared emission from galaxies

Two of the first Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) results were that galaxies have a wide range of values for the ratio of 60 micron to 100 micron flux density (0.2 less than or equal to S sub 60/S sub 100 less than or equal to 1.0) and that this ratio is correlated with L sub fir, L sub b, L sub fir being the total far-infrared luminosity and L sub b being the luminosity at visible wavelengths (de Jong et al. 1984; Soifer et al. 1984). From these results arose the following simple model for the far-infrared emission from galaxies (de Jong et al. 1984), which has remained the standard model ever since. In this model, the far-infrared emission comes from two dust components: warm dust (T approx. equals 50 K) intermingled with, and heated by, young massive OB stars in molecular clouds and HII regions, and colder dust (T approx. equals 20 K) associated with the diffuse atomic hydrogen in the interstellar medium and heated by the general interstellar radiation field. As the number of young stars in a galaxy increases, S sub 60/S sub 100 increases, because there is a greater proportion of warm dust, and so does L sub fir/L sub b, because most of the radiation from the young stars is absorbed by the dust, leading to a swifter increase in far-infrared emission than in visible light. Although this model explains the basic IRAS results, it is inelegant. It uses two free parameters to fit two data (the 60 and 100 micron flux densities)-and there are now several observations that contradict it. Despite these major problems with the two-component model, it is not clear what should be put in its place. When considering possible models for the far-infrared emission from galaxies, the observational evidence for our own galaxy must be considered. Researchers suspect that the study by Boulanger and Perault (1988) of the far-infrared properties of the local interstellar medium may be particularly relevant. They showed that molecular clouds are leaky - that most of the light from OB stars in molecular clouds does not heat the dust in the clouds, but instead leaks out. The consequence of this is that that while most of the far-infrared emission from the solar neighborhood is from dust associated with diffuse HI, this dust is mostly heated by young stars

Social Protection and Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region face a number of challenges, including ongoing civil unrest with associated displacement of people and disruption of services, stagnant economic growth and high unemployment, food insecurity and rising malnutrition, exacerbated by import dependence and natural disasters. Safety nets and broader social protection instruments offer partial solutions to some of these challenges. Consumer price subsidies on food and fuel, historically favoured in this region, are expensive and regressive, and are being phased out in many countries and replaced with targeted social assistance programmes. However, their coverage is low and targeting is inaccurate – less than a quarter of benefits reach the poorest quintile – which limits their impact on poverty and food insecurity. Apart from food subsidies and cash transfers or food vouchers, school feeding and public works are also popular social protection instruments in MENA countries. School feeding programmes promote improved nutrition as well as access to education, often addressing gender inequities by targeting girls. Public works projects provide food or cash through temporary employment on infrastructure projects, such as constructing or rehabilitating rural feeder roads. The large numbers of refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and migrants in this region require special attention, since most have no entitlements to social protection from either their home or host countries. Informal and semi-formal social protection plays a significant role, notably through religious redistributive mechanisms such as Zakat. Despite the pervasive political instability in this region, especially since the Arab Spring, social protection systems must be established that deliver predictable and reliable social assistance to those who need it, and the ‘subsidy dividend’ should be invested in expanded, flexible and more cost-effective safety nets. Social protection can and should make a more substantial contribution to reducing poverty and achieving food and nutrition security in all MENA countries

Goats Before Ploughs: Dilemmas of Household Response Sequencing During Food Shortages

Summary This article draws on the ‘entitlement’ and ‘coping strategies’ literature to argue that consumption smoothing is not the only priority of poor households facing food production shocks or income declines. In selecting from the range of responses available to them, decision makers retain economic and social as well as nutritional objectives, and they will sequence their responses according to the long term costs as well as the immediate returns associated with each option. Resumé Vendre La Chevre Ou La Charrue? Les Dilemmes Des Priorités De Résponse Ménagere En Période De Manque Alimentaire S'inspirant de la bibliographie des grands programmes sociaux et des stratégies d'affrontment des problèmes, le présent article propose que l'ajustment de la consommation n'est pas l'unique priorité des ménages pauvres qui font face à une crise de production alimentaire ou à la diminution de leurs revenus. Dans leur choix parmi la gamme de responses disponibles, les décideurs maintiennent leurs objectifs économiques et sociaux en même temps que nutritifs, et ils accorderont à leurs responses des priorités fondées sur les coûts à long terme aussi bien que les avantages immédiats que présentent chaque option. Resumen Cabras Antes Que Arados: Dilemas En La Organizacion De Secuencias De Respuesta Domestica En Periodos De Crisis Alimentaria Este artículo parte de la literatura sobre ‘autorizaciones’ y ‘estrategias de solución’ para argüir que la regularización del consumo no es la única prioridad para grupos familiares pobres enfrentados a choques en la producción de alimentos o declinación en las entradas económicas. Al seleccionar entra las respuestas disponibles, los encargados de las decisiones mantienen objetivos no solo de nutrición sino también económicos y sociales, y organizan sus propias respuestas de acuerdo a los costos a largo plazo y a las ganancias inmediatas asociadas a cada opción

Social Protection for Agricultural Growth in Africa

Various explanations have been advanced for the persistent under‑performance of agriculture in many African countries, where smallholder farming is still the dominant livelihood activity and the main source of employment, food and income. Some of the oldest arguments remain the most compelling. African farmers face harsh agro‑ecologies and erratic weather, characterised by low soil fertility, recurrent droughts and/or floods, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns associated with climate change. Vulnerability to shocks is compounded by infrastructure deficits (roads and transport networks, telecommunications, potable water and irrigation) that keep poor communities poor and vulnerable, as testified by the phenomenon observed during livelihood crises of steep food price gradients from isolated rural villages to densely settled urban centres. African farmers have also been inadequately protected against the forces of globalisation and adverse international terms of trade – for instance, Western farmers and markets are heavily protected in ways that African farmers and markets are not.DfI

Livestock and Livelihoods in Africa: Maximising Animal Welfare and Human Wellbeing

Livestock perform several vital roles in rural livelihoods in Africa, providing food (meat, milk, eggs), draught power and transport, as well as income from sales of animals and animal products. However, the implications for animal welfare are not always considered. Theory suggests that animal welfare follows an ‘n-curve’ in relation to productivity. It tends to be low in smallholder farming and pastoral systems (due to inadequate feed, water and veterinary care), to rise with semi-commercial livestock production (increasing the use-value of animals requires investment), and to fall again with full commercialisation (exploitation for profit maximisation overrides welfare considerations). This paper argues that livestock keepers invest in animal welfare to the extent that this increases their productivity, but they might also derive non-use value from treating their animals well. If the economic returns plus non-use value are not sufficient, regulations to protect livestock must be introduced and compliance must be enforced, to ensure that an adequate investment in animal welfare is achieved and to achieve a better balance between human and animal welfare

The vision 2020 Umurenge programme: a pathway to sustainable livelihoods for rural Rwandans?

A conference paper presentation in IPAR's Annual research conference 201