Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Food insecurity manifests most severely in s... more Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Food insecurity manifests most severely in specific geographies. Global demographic changes have resulted in shifts in the locus of these experiences. Food insecurity in urban areas, particularly in developing countries, is a poorly understood phenomenon. Responses to food security have primarily focused on ensuring food availability, a rural and generally, agricultural challenge. This is a response that overlooks critical emerging urban food insecurity challenges. Policies and legislation reinforce a production response and in the rare instances when food access is considered, a welfare paradigm is applied. Such food security responses disregard the transitions taking place within society. This chapter identifies a number of global transitions. Within the context of wider global change processes, which includes anthropocentric climate change, this chapter focuses on three inter-connected transitions; the second urban transition, the food system transition and the nutrition transition. These societal changes are argued to prompt new forms of governance that calls for response appropriate to the scale at which food security interventions should be enacted. The chapter concludes suggesting that cities of the global south would be well served by adopting a food mandate. A mandate that looks beyond production, one that actively seeks to mitigate against food system shocks and volatility, shocks and volatility driven by a fast changing food system, but exacerbated by the climate change.
The chapter contextualizes the case for social protection, its typologies, applications, implemen... more The chapter contextualizes the case for social protection, its typologies, applications, implementation and emerging trends through a brief discussion of food system and urban transitions underway in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is followed by an overview of the literature on social protection in relation to food and nutrition security, which provides the foundation for the analysis of the South African social protection systems. The South African case study is followed by a critical discussion on the possible unintended consequences associated with the South African experience and its implications for social protection and food security in other contexts. The chapter concludes by interrogating the South African success narrative and the long-term consequences of developments in social protection disbursement technologies. The chapter questions whether the adoption of these technologies are possible drivers of new developmental challenges that ultimately increase vulnerability and marginalization, and play a role in reducing livelihoods and educational benefits.
This chapter addresses the state of South Africa’s land and soil resources and the impacts of con... more This chapter addresses the state of South Africa’s land and soil resources and the impacts of conventional or industrial agriculture in terms of reliance on diminishing resources (particularly fossil fuels) and environmental degradation. It considers the requirements for improving the sustainability of agricultural production and the rehabilitation of soils, with an emphasis on agro-ecological farming methods. Consideration is also given to the labour-intensiveness of farming and the potential for job creation in the smallholder sector. The chapter discusses the state of South African agriculture with a specific focus on three interconnected components of the agricultural system: (1) the resource intensity of the dominant production approaches; (2) the agricultural demography, detailing changes in the nature and scale of landholding and production structures; and (3) the decline in employment within the agricultural sector. These three interconnected challenges underpin the call for alternative approaches to agricultural production.
As a result of this refining of the concept of food security, the vast majority of food security ... more As a result of this refining of the concept of food security, the vast majority of food security and food poverty work in the African urban context now focuses at the household scale. While this is a useful shift in scale of analysis from the global and national scale of earlier food security work, this chapter argues that the adoption of a predominantly household scale of analysis and action has obscured the systemic drivers of urban food insecurity and has depoliticized food security. Although the conceptual framing of food security has gradually shifted from a preoccupation with food availability to the inclusion of multiple dimensions of food security, food security policy and programmatic responses have lagged behind. The chapter considers the ways in which an expanded understanding of the four pillars in the African urban context can provide an entry point for novel interventions to alleviate food insecurity.
Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Inequality means that food insecurity is dis... more Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Inequality means that food insecurity is disproportionately experienced. Despite positive shifts in the state of food security at a global scale, recent reports from the Food and Agricultural Organisation suggest that in Africa the total number of undernourished people continues to increase. The paper argues that there is a certain “stuckness” in food security responses. The mutually converging transitions of the urban transition, food regime shifts and the nutrition transition demand different ways of understanding the food system, food security and the components thereof, including value chains. The paper reviews efforts designed to respond to these mutually reinforcing challenges but argues that generalisations are problematic. Borrowing concepts from the North is equally problematic. Using the concept of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), the paper interrogates these networks and asks how such alternative networks manifest in the context of food insecurity in South African cities. AFNs evident in Northern cities and regions are generally privileged and present a perspective of the food system that prioritises sustainability and a deep green and often local ethic, embodying aspirations of food system change. In Southern cities, food system engagement is less about engagement for change, but rather, engagement to enable food access. Traditional value chain parlance sees a value chain extending from producer to consumer. The food access value chain present within poor urban communities in South Africa reflects more than just financial transactions. Transactions of reciprocity and social exchange are embedded within food security strategies, and are often informed by the enactment of agency. Using the term “the food access continuum” this paper calls for a far more expansive view of food access strategies and networks. Understanding these networks is essential to effective food and nutrition security policy and programming.
This paper aims to review what is currently known about the role played by the informal sector in... more This paper aims to review what is currently known about the role played by the informal sector in general and informal retailers in particular, in the accessibility of food in South Africa. The review seeks to identify policy relevant research gaps. Drawing on Statistics South Africa data, we show that the informal sector is an important source of employment, dominated by informal trade with the sale of food a significant subsector within this trade. We then turn our attention to what is known about the informal sector’s role in food sourcing of poorer households. African Food Security Urban Network’s surveys show that urban residents and particularly low income households regularly sourced food from the informal sector and we explore why this might be the case through an expanded view of access. We then consider existing evidence on the implications of increased supermarket penetration for informal retailers and food security. Having established the importance of the informal sector, we turn our attention to the policy environment. First we assess the food security policy position and then the post-apartheid policy response to the informal sector – nationally, in provinces, and in key urban centres. We trace a productionist and rural bias in the food security agenda and argue that the policy environment for informal operators is at best benign neglect and at worse actively destructive, with serious food security implications. Throughout the paper we draw on regional and international evidence to locate the South African issues within wider related trends.
Food had a symbiotic relationship with cities for centuries. Food shaped cities. Food influenced ... more Food had a symbiotic relationship with cities for centuries. Food shaped cities. Food influenced the location, design, economies and politics of cities. For many cities their ability to ensure food availability determined their stature. Recently, however, the relationship between food and the city has become increasingly opaque. Colonialism, industrialization and globalization have resulted in changes in food system functions. All of these changes have distanced cities from food production and changed the relationship between the city and food.
This paper examines African urban infrastructure and service delivery as an entry point for conne... more This paper examines African urban infrastructure and service delivery as an entry point for connecting African aspirations with the harsh developmental imperatives of urban management, creating a dialogue between scholarly knowledge and sustainable development policy aspirations. We note a shift to multinodal urban governance and highlight the significance of the synthesis of social, economic and ecological values in a normative vision of what an African metropolis might aspire to by 2030. The sustainable development vision provides a useful stimulus for Africa’s urban poly-crisis, demanding fresh interdisciplinary and normatively explicit thinking, grounded in a practical and realistic understanding of Africa’s infrastructure and governance challenges.
A B S T R A C T The understanding of food security has seen major shifts since the original conce... more A B S T R A C T The understanding of food security has seen major shifts since the original conceptualisations of the challenge. These changes in understanding have been accompanied by different food security measurement approaches. Despite the fact that the world has become increasingly urbanised and the developing world in particular, is experiencing its own urban transition, changes in food security measurement remain predominantly informed by a rural understanding of food security. In instances where urban measurement does take place, rural-oriented measurement approaches are adopted, occluding critical urban challenges and systemic drivers. This paper begins by highlighting the urban transition and attendant food security challenges in the Global South. It then reflects on existing food security measurement methods, detailing the positive components but also highlighting the shortfalls applicable to the urban context. At the urban scale, a food system assessment is argued to be one appropriate tool to respond to urban food insecurity while at the same time providing both the " breadth and depth " to inform effective food security programming and policy interventions. Theoretically, questions of scale, context and a critique of the rural bias in food systems work are essential informants guiding the approaches applied.
With urbanisation taking place at a rapid rate and Africa set to cross the threshold into being p... more With urbanisation taking place at a rapid rate and Africa set to cross the threshold into being predominantly urban shortly after 2030, this paper calls for Africa – particularly African cities – to drive the continent’s urban transition agenda. It sets out carefully considered actions required from affected stakeholders in Africa’s urban food and nutrition challenge. This paper is a redrafted call to action that was conceptualised in preparation for discussion at a 2016 Consuming Urban Poverty/ African Food Security Urban Network/Hungry Cities Partnership policy workshop. The workshop, on “Food Consumption and Food and Nutrition Security in Africa’s Hungry Cities” was held at the World Nutrition Conference at the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, from 29 August to 3 September 2016. Subsequent to input from workshop participants, further input was solicited via targeted social media over a period of 30 days. The call to action and this working paper reflect these inputs and debates. The consultative process reached just over 4,000 people.
The Right to Food is enshrined within the South African Constitution. However, despit... more The Right to Food is enshrined within the South African Constitution. However, despite there being sufficient food available within the country, this right is not being met. Both nationally and within the City of Cape Town there are high levels of household food insecurity. The nature of food insecurity is changing. Food insecure households continue to be malnourished in terms of essential nutrients for health and development, but they are also now characterised by increasing obesity, diabetes and hypertension. This shifting pathology necessitates a shift in thinking about food security and its causes. It can no longer be viewed solely, or even primarily, simply as a manifestation of household poverty. It must be viewed in the context of the wider food system, and other interconnected systems.
The Terms of Reference for this study identify the challenge of food insecurity in the following manner: “Food security or the lack thereof is the outcome of complex and multi7dimensional factors comprising a food system. Therefore, food insecurity is the result of failures or inefficiencies in one or more dimensions of the food system. This necessitates a holistic analysis of the food system that than can provide insights into the various components of the system, especially in our context as a developing world city. That analysis must also take note of the constitutional mandates of the tiers of government in South Africa, such as the legal mandate for food security that rests with the national government, in conjunction with various provincial departments. Local government, however, needs to understand food systems so as to make evidence7based planning and policy decisions that will have long7 term impacts on their areas.” In order to generate the evidence base to enable the City to make planning and policy decisions that will impact food insecurity the following questions were asked,: (a) What are the components of Cape Town’s food system? How effective is it? What are the points of weakness in the systems? What interventions would be needed to achieve and sustain effective food systems in the city? What are the key threats to the system in the future and what mitigation strategies are needed? (b) What is the status of food security in the city? Which instruments should be used to measure food security and what are the appropriate indicators? Where are the food vulnerable residents located? What are their coping strategies? (c) What are the areas within the city’s boundaries that contribute towards the food systems and food security in Cape Town? How do you quantify their roles as production centres for food? How significant are they for food security in the city? (d) Who are all the role7players in the field of food security in Cape Town – whose roles are enshrined in official mandates and whose are more voluntary – to inform what role the Council would play, i.e. what should the Council’s response be to food insecurity? This report addresses these questions and provides a set of recommendations based on its findings and from applicable lessons from around the globe.
South Africa’s towns and cities experience high levels of food insecurity.i Although municipaliti... more South Africa’s towns and cities experience high levels of food insecurity.i Although municipalities have no direct mandate to address food insecurity, many municipalities have attempted to alleviate food insecurity. These efforts have generally focused on the promotion of urban agriculture. However, the vast majority of urban residents obtain the vast majority of their food via market sources, formal and informal. This policy brief argues that the informal food retail sector is an important contributor to the food security of the urban poor, and therefore requires greater policy attention. Supermarkets and informal food traders are important components of the urban food system and deliver different food security benefits to urban residents. Although supermarkets are generally cheaper per unit food, and are recognized to have higher food safety standards, they are not always responsive to the food security needs of the poor. Informal food retailers, including spazas and street traders, sell in smaller unit sizes, operate for longer hours and will often offer credit. These make them an important contributor to household food security. Therefore, a mix of retail types is important to ensure food security for the poor. At present municipalities do not consider the food retail sector, and their role in shaping the food retail environment, as an element in ensuring food security. As a result local government planning and management of food retail, formal and informal, takes a purely local economic development or livelihoods approach. Informal traders have been over-regulated on the basis of food safety. There is a need for a new approach to food security. Although there is a lack of formal mandate for local government, there are many activities taking place within existing mandates that impact the food system and therefore food security. Municipalities should therefore assess their role in enhancing or hindering food security. This policy brief recommends the following: a) Integrated (formal and informal sector) food retail planning should be a component of any food security strategy; b) The sale of healthy foods near transport hubs should be incentivized; and c) Municipalities should engage informal trader associations to co-develop appropriate means to ensure food safety
Although there are high levels of food insecurityi in South Africa’s cities and towns, the proble... more Although there are high levels of food insecurityi in South Africa’s cities and towns, the problem continues to be framed as predominantly rural in nature. This has led to policies and programmes that fail to acknowledge urban food insecurity. Local governments have no clear mandate to address food insecurity, and tend to take their lead in any food security programming from national and provincial objectives. This has led to urban agriculture becoming the default response to food insecurity in urban areas. There is however little evidence to support the continued promotion of urban agriculture as the only local government response. The uptake of urban agriculture varies considerably across the country, but is below 10% in most of the metros. Available evidence indicates that it does not play a significant role in household consumption and is not a viable income generation strategy. There are significant weaknesses in available data, which make it hard to justify current levels of support for urban agriculture. This policy brief makes two sets of recommendations, the first aim to increase the viability of urban agriculture, and the second set are to encourage municipalities to think beyond urban agriculture. In order to increase the viability of urban agriculture municipalities should develop outcome and impact monitoring and evaluation, partner with NGOs, and facilitate access to land and protect land for urban production. However, more importantly municipalities need to look beyond urban agriculture to address food insecurity. Expecting the urban poor, who have the least access to the resources (money, land, tools, seed, knowledge, equipment) necessary to establish successful agricultural ventures, to “grow their own” in order to uplift themselves out of poverty, fails to recognise the massive barriers constraining urban agriculture in South African cities. Municipalities should therefore view urban agriculture as part of the wider food system, strengthen linkages between urban agriculture and other parts of the urban food system, seek to develop alternative food security programmes and policies within their existing mandates, and develop food security strategies which address the multiple drivers of food insecurity in order to achieve food security for all.
Although South Africa is food security at a national level, there is widespread household food in... more Although South Africa is food security at a national level, there is widespread household food insecurity. Despite clear evidence of high levels of urban food insecurity, the problem is generally framed as being predominantly rural. This has led to a neglect of urban considerations in food security policies and programmes at the national and provincial levels, and an approach that fails to consider the systemic drivers of food insecurity. This has left local government without a clear mandate to address food insecurity. Although National policies and strategies continue to neglect the drivers of urban food security, the 2014 National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security does identify a role for local government. The National Development Plan argues for a more complex understanding of food security and its possible solutions. Although the vast majorty of local government food security initiatives focus on urban agriculture, there are indications that a more systemic approach is being considered. This policy brief calls for national government to formally acknowledge the mandate for food security to local government, and for provincial government to provide more scope for local government to drive the provincial urban food security agenda. The South African Cities Network has an important role to play in driving these processes, and in providing opportunities for horizontal learning. The brief argues that local governments should seek to maximise their food security programming and interventions within their existing mandates and develop over-arching food security and food system strategies, which address sustaianability issues and vulnerabilities to mega-trends. Finally, it argues that food systems governance should be recognised as an intervention with multiple benefits and returns on investment.
This chapter discusses the macro trends influencing food systems and food security, before moving... more This chapter discusses the macro trends influencing food systems and food security, before moving on to analyse Stellenbosch's food system by looking at the flows of food (and energy, water and other nutrients) in food production, distribution and consumption, in order to determine where there may be room for making Stellenbosch's food system more effective and sustainable. The main problems with the Stellenbosch food system are discussed and recommendations given for how the food system may be improved.
South Africa's population is already more than 60% urbanised. Whereas food poverty has histor... more South Africa's population is already more than 60% urbanised. Whereas food poverty has historically been associated with rural communities, this is no longer the case. With sustained urbanisation, the locus of poverty is now shifting from rural to urban areas in the country. In addition, the recent sharp rise in food prices, coupled with an economic downturn, all suggest that poor urban households are experiencing a widening food gap. However, there is little empirical evidence that quantifies the prevalence of food insecurity
Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Food insecurity manifests most severely in s... more Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Food insecurity manifests most severely in specific geographies. Global demographic changes have resulted in shifts in the locus of these experiences. Food insecurity in urban areas, particularly in developing countries, is a poorly understood phenomenon. Responses to food security have primarily focused on ensuring food availability, a rural and generally, agricultural challenge. This is a response that overlooks critical emerging urban food insecurity challenges. Policies and legislation reinforce a production response and in the rare instances when food access is considered, a welfare paradigm is applied. Such food security responses disregard the transitions taking place within society. This chapter identifies a number of global transitions. Within the context of wider global change processes, which includes anthropocentric climate change, this chapter focuses on three inter-connected transitions; the second urban transition, the food system transition and the nutrition transition. These societal changes are argued to prompt new forms of governance that calls for response appropriate to the scale at which food security interventions should be enacted. The chapter concludes suggesting that cities of the global south would be well served by adopting a food mandate. A mandate that looks beyond production, one that actively seeks to mitigate against food system shocks and volatility, shocks and volatility driven by a fast changing food system, but exacerbated by the climate change.
The chapter contextualizes the case for social protection, its typologies, applications, implemen... more The chapter contextualizes the case for social protection, its typologies, applications, implementation and emerging trends through a brief discussion of food system and urban transitions underway in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is followed by an overview of the literature on social protection in relation to food and nutrition security, which provides the foundation for the analysis of the South African social protection systems. The South African case study is followed by a critical discussion on the possible unintended consequences associated with the South African experience and its implications for social protection and food security in other contexts. The chapter concludes by interrogating the South African success narrative and the long-term consequences of developments in social protection disbursement technologies. The chapter questions whether the adoption of these technologies are possible drivers of new developmental challenges that ultimately increase vulnerability and marginalization, and play a role in reducing livelihoods and educational benefits.
This chapter addresses the state of South Africa’s land and soil resources and the impacts of con... more This chapter addresses the state of South Africa’s land and soil resources and the impacts of conventional or industrial agriculture in terms of reliance on diminishing resources (particularly fossil fuels) and environmental degradation. It considers the requirements for improving the sustainability of agricultural production and the rehabilitation of soils, with an emphasis on agro-ecological farming methods. Consideration is also given to the labour-intensiveness of farming and the potential for job creation in the smallholder sector. The chapter discusses the state of South African agriculture with a specific focus on three interconnected components of the agricultural system: (1) the resource intensity of the dominant production approaches; (2) the agricultural demography, detailing changes in the nature and scale of landholding and production structures; and (3) the decline in employment within the agricultural sector. These three interconnected challenges underpin the call for alternative approaches to agricultural production.
As a result of this refining of the concept of food security, the vast majority of food security ... more As a result of this refining of the concept of food security, the vast majority of food security and food poverty work in the African urban context now focuses at the household scale. While this is a useful shift in scale of analysis from the global and national scale of earlier food security work, this chapter argues that the adoption of a predominantly household scale of analysis and action has obscured the systemic drivers of urban food insecurity and has depoliticized food security. Although the conceptual framing of food security has gradually shifted from a preoccupation with food availability to the inclusion of multiple dimensions of food security, food security policy and programmatic responses have lagged behind. The chapter considers the ways in which an expanded understanding of the four pillars in the African urban context can provide an entry point for novel interventions to alleviate food insecurity.
Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Inequality means that food insecurity is dis... more Food security remains a persistent global challenge. Inequality means that food insecurity is disproportionately experienced. Despite positive shifts in the state of food security at a global scale, recent reports from the Food and Agricultural Organisation suggest that in Africa the total number of undernourished people continues to increase. The paper argues that there is a certain “stuckness” in food security responses. The mutually converging transitions of the urban transition, food regime shifts and the nutrition transition demand different ways of understanding the food system, food security and the components thereof, including value chains. The paper reviews efforts designed to respond to these mutually reinforcing challenges but argues that generalisations are problematic. Borrowing concepts from the North is equally problematic. Using the concept of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), the paper interrogates these networks and asks how such alternative networks manifest in the context of food insecurity in South African cities. AFNs evident in Northern cities and regions are generally privileged and present a perspective of the food system that prioritises sustainability and a deep green and often local ethic, embodying aspirations of food system change. In Southern cities, food system engagement is less about engagement for change, but rather, engagement to enable food access. Traditional value chain parlance sees a value chain extending from producer to consumer. The food access value chain present within poor urban communities in South Africa reflects more than just financial transactions. Transactions of reciprocity and social exchange are embedded within food security strategies, and are often informed by the enactment of agency. Using the term “the food access continuum” this paper calls for a far more expansive view of food access strategies and networks. Understanding these networks is essential to effective food and nutrition security policy and programming.
This paper aims to review what is currently known about the role played by the informal sector in... more This paper aims to review what is currently known about the role played by the informal sector in general and informal retailers in particular, in the accessibility of food in South Africa. The review seeks to identify policy relevant research gaps. Drawing on Statistics South Africa data, we show that the informal sector is an important source of employment, dominated by informal trade with the sale of food a significant subsector within this trade. We then turn our attention to what is known about the informal sector’s role in food sourcing of poorer households. African Food Security Urban Network’s surveys show that urban residents and particularly low income households regularly sourced food from the informal sector and we explore why this might be the case through an expanded view of access. We then consider existing evidence on the implications of increased supermarket penetration for informal retailers and food security. Having established the importance of the informal sector, we turn our attention to the policy environment. First we assess the food security policy position and then the post-apartheid policy response to the informal sector – nationally, in provinces, and in key urban centres. We trace a productionist and rural bias in the food security agenda and argue that the policy environment for informal operators is at best benign neglect and at worse actively destructive, with serious food security implications. Throughout the paper we draw on regional and international evidence to locate the South African issues within wider related trends.
Food had a symbiotic relationship with cities for centuries. Food shaped cities. Food influenced ... more Food had a symbiotic relationship with cities for centuries. Food shaped cities. Food influenced the location, design, economies and politics of cities. For many cities their ability to ensure food availability determined their stature. Recently, however, the relationship between food and the city has become increasingly opaque. Colonialism, industrialization and globalization have resulted in changes in food system functions. All of these changes have distanced cities from food production and changed the relationship between the city and food.
This paper examines African urban infrastructure and service delivery as an entry point for conne... more This paper examines African urban infrastructure and service delivery as an entry point for connecting African aspirations with the harsh developmental imperatives of urban management, creating a dialogue between scholarly knowledge and sustainable development policy aspirations. We note a shift to multinodal urban governance and highlight the significance of the synthesis of social, economic and ecological values in a normative vision of what an African metropolis might aspire to by 2030. The sustainable development vision provides a useful stimulus for Africa’s urban poly-crisis, demanding fresh interdisciplinary and normatively explicit thinking, grounded in a practical and realistic understanding of Africa’s infrastructure and governance challenges.
A B S T R A C T The understanding of food security has seen major shifts since the original conce... more A B S T R A C T The understanding of food security has seen major shifts since the original conceptualisations of the challenge. These changes in understanding have been accompanied by different food security measurement approaches. Despite the fact that the world has become increasingly urbanised and the developing world in particular, is experiencing its own urban transition, changes in food security measurement remain predominantly informed by a rural understanding of food security. In instances where urban measurement does take place, rural-oriented measurement approaches are adopted, occluding critical urban challenges and systemic drivers. This paper begins by highlighting the urban transition and attendant food security challenges in the Global South. It then reflects on existing food security measurement methods, detailing the positive components but also highlighting the shortfalls applicable to the urban context. At the urban scale, a food system assessment is argued to be one appropriate tool to respond to urban food insecurity while at the same time providing both the " breadth and depth " to inform effective food security programming and policy interventions. Theoretically, questions of scale, context and a critique of the rural bias in food systems work are essential informants guiding the approaches applied.
With urbanisation taking place at a rapid rate and Africa set to cross the threshold into being p... more With urbanisation taking place at a rapid rate and Africa set to cross the threshold into being predominantly urban shortly after 2030, this paper calls for Africa – particularly African cities – to drive the continent’s urban transition agenda. It sets out carefully considered actions required from affected stakeholders in Africa’s urban food and nutrition challenge. This paper is a redrafted call to action that was conceptualised in preparation for discussion at a 2016 Consuming Urban Poverty/ African Food Security Urban Network/Hungry Cities Partnership policy workshop. The workshop, on “Food Consumption and Food and Nutrition Security in Africa’s Hungry Cities” was held at the World Nutrition Conference at the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, from 29 August to 3 September 2016. Subsequent to input from workshop participants, further input was solicited via targeted social media over a period of 30 days. The call to action and this working paper reflect these inputs and debates. The consultative process reached just over 4,000 people.
The Right to Food is enshrined within the South African Constitution. However, despit... more The Right to Food is enshrined within the South African Constitution. However, despite there being sufficient food available within the country, this right is not being met. Both nationally and within the City of Cape Town there are high levels of household food insecurity. The nature of food insecurity is changing. Food insecure households continue to be malnourished in terms of essential nutrients for health and development, but they are also now characterised by increasing obesity, diabetes and hypertension. This shifting pathology necessitates a shift in thinking about food security and its causes. It can no longer be viewed solely, or even primarily, simply as a manifestation of household poverty. It must be viewed in the context of the wider food system, and other interconnected systems.
The Terms of Reference for this study identify the challenge of food insecurity in the following manner: “Food security or the lack thereof is the outcome of complex and multi7dimensional factors comprising a food system. Therefore, food insecurity is the result of failures or inefficiencies in one or more dimensions of the food system. This necessitates a holistic analysis of the food system that than can provide insights into the various components of the system, especially in our context as a developing world city. That analysis must also take note of the constitutional mandates of the tiers of government in South Africa, such as the legal mandate for food security that rests with the national government, in conjunction with various provincial departments. Local government, however, needs to understand food systems so as to make evidence7based planning and policy decisions that will have long7 term impacts on their areas.” In order to generate the evidence base to enable the City to make planning and policy decisions that will impact food insecurity the following questions were asked,: (a) What are the components of Cape Town’s food system? How effective is it? What are the points of weakness in the systems? What interventions would be needed to achieve and sustain effective food systems in the city? What are the key threats to the system in the future and what mitigation strategies are needed? (b) What is the status of food security in the city? Which instruments should be used to measure food security and what are the appropriate indicators? Where are the food vulnerable residents located? What are their coping strategies? (c) What are the areas within the city’s boundaries that contribute towards the food systems and food security in Cape Town? How do you quantify their roles as production centres for food? How significant are they for food security in the city? (d) Who are all the role7players in the field of food security in Cape Town – whose roles are enshrined in official mandates and whose are more voluntary – to inform what role the Council would play, i.e. what should the Council’s response be to food insecurity? This report addresses these questions and provides a set of recommendations based on its findings and from applicable lessons from around the globe.
South Africa’s towns and cities experience high levels of food insecurity.i Although municipaliti... more South Africa’s towns and cities experience high levels of food insecurity.i Although municipalities have no direct mandate to address food insecurity, many municipalities have attempted to alleviate food insecurity. These efforts have generally focused on the promotion of urban agriculture. However, the vast majority of urban residents obtain the vast majority of their food via market sources, formal and informal. This policy brief argues that the informal food retail sector is an important contributor to the food security of the urban poor, and therefore requires greater policy attention. Supermarkets and informal food traders are important components of the urban food system and deliver different food security benefits to urban residents. Although supermarkets are generally cheaper per unit food, and are recognized to have higher food safety standards, they are not always responsive to the food security needs of the poor. Informal food retailers, including spazas and street traders, sell in smaller unit sizes, operate for longer hours and will often offer credit. These make them an important contributor to household food security. Therefore, a mix of retail types is important to ensure food security for the poor. At present municipalities do not consider the food retail sector, and their role in shaping the food retail environment, as an element in ensuring food security. As a result local government planning and management of food retail, formal and informal, takes a purely local economic development or livelihoods approach. Informal traders have been over-regulated on the basis of food safety. There is a need for a new approach to food security. Although there is a lack of formal mandate for local government, there are many activities taking place within existing mandates that impact the food system and therefore food security. Municipalities should therefore assess their role in enhancing or hindering food security. This policy brief recommends the following: a) Integrated (formal and informal sector) food retail planning should be a component of any food security strategy; b) The sale of healthy foods near transport hubs should be incentivized; and c) Municipalities should engage informal trader associations to co-develop appropriate means to ensure food safety
Although there are high levels of food insecurityi in South Africa’s cities and towns, the proble... more Although there are high levels of food insecurityi in South Africa’s cities and towns, the problem continues to be framed as predominantly rural in nature. This has led to policies and programmes that fail to acknowledge urban food insecurity. Local governments have no clear mandate to address food insecurity, and tend to take their lead in any food security programming from national and provincial objectives. This has led to urban agriculture becoming the default response to food insecurity in urban areas. There is however little evidence to support the continued promotion of urban agriculture as the only local government response. The uptake of urban agriculture varies considerably across the country, but is below 10% in most of the metros. Available evidence indicates that it does not play a significant role in household consumption and is not a viable income generation strategy. There are significant weaknesses in available data, which make it hard to justify current levels of support for urban agriculture. This policy brief makes two sets of recommendations, the first aim to increase the viability of urban agriculture, and the second set are to encourage municipalities to think beyond urban agriculture. In order to increase the viability of urban agriculture municipalities should develop outcome and impact monitoring and evaluation, partner with NGOs, and facilitate access to land and protect land for urban production. However, more importantly municipalities need to look beyond urban agriculture to address food insecurity. Expecting the urban poor, who have the least access to the resources (money, land, tools, seed, knowledge, equipment) necessary to establish successful agricultural ventures, to “grow their own” in order to uplift themselves out of poverty, fails to recognise the massive barriers constraining urban agriculture in South African cities. Municipalities should therefore view urban agriculture as part of the wider food system, strengthen linkages between urban agriculture and other parts of the urban food system, seek to develop alternative food security programmes and policies within their existing mandates, and develop food security strategies which address the multiple drivers of food insecurity in order to achieve food security for all.
Although South Africa is food security at a national level, there is widespread household food in... more Although South Africa is food security at a national level, there is widespread household food insecurity. Despite clear evidence of high levels of urban food insecurity, the problem is generally framed as being predominantly rural. This has led to a neglect of urban considerations in food security policies and programmes at the national and provincial levels, and an approach that fails to consider the systemic drivers of food insecurity. This has left local government without a clear mandate to address food insecurity. Although National policies and strategies continue to neglect the drivers of urban food security, the 2014 National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security does identify a role for local government. The National Development Plan argues for a more complex understanding of food security and its possible solutions. Although the vast majorty of local government food security initiatives focus on urban agriculture, there are indications that a more systemic approach is being considered. This policy brief calls for national government to formally acknowledge the mandate for food security to local government, and for provincial government to provide more scope for local government to drive the provincial urban food security agenda. The South African Cities Network has an important role to play in driving these processes, and in providing opportunities for horizontal learning. The brief argues that local governments should seek to maximise their food security programming and interventions within their existing mandates and develop over-arching food security and food system strategies, which address sustaianability issues and vulnerabilities to mega-trends. Finally, it argues that food systems governance should be recognised as an intervention with multiple benefits and returns on investment.
This chapter discusses the macro trends influencing food systems and food security, before moving... more This chapter discusses the macro trends influencing food systems and food security, before moving on to analyse Stellenbosch's food system by looking at the flows of food (and energy, water and other nutrients) in food production, distribution and consumption, in order to determine where there may be room for making Stellenbosch's food system more effective and sustainable. The main problems with the Stellenbosch food system are discussed and recommendations given for how the food system may be improved.
South Africa's population is already more than 60% urbanised. Whereas food poverty has histor... more South Africa's population is already more than 60% urbanised. Whereas food poverty has historically been associated with rural communities, this is no longer the case. With sustained urbanisation, the locus of poverty is now shifting from rural to urban areas in the country. In addition, the recent sharp rise in food prices, coupled with an economic downturn, all suggest that poor urban households are experiencing a widening food gap. However, there is little empirical evidence that quantifies the prevalence of food insecurity
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Although the conceptual framing of food security has gradually shifted from a preoccupation with food availability to the inclusion of multiple dimensions of food security, food security policy and programmatic responses have lagged behind. The chapter considers the ways in which an expanded understanding of the four pillars in the African urban context can provide an entry point for novel interventions to alleviate food insecurity.
The nature of food insecurity is changing. Food insecure households continue to be malnourished in terms of essential nutrients for health and development, but they are also now characterised by increasing obesity, diabetes and hypertension. This shifting pathology necessitates a shift in thinking about food security and its causes. It can no longer be viewed solely, or even primarily, simply as a manifestation of household poverty. It must be viewed in the context of the wider food system, and other interconnected systems.
The Terms of Reference for this study identify the challenge of food insecurity in the following manner:
“Food security or the lack thereof is the outcome of complex and multi7dimensional factors comprising a food system. Therefore, food insecurity is the result of failures or inefficiencies in one or more dimensions of the food system. This necessitates a holistic analysis of the food system that than can provide insights into the various components of the system, especially in our context as a developing world city. That analysis must also take note of the constitutional mandates of the tiers of government in South Africa, such as the legal mandate for food security that rests with the national government, in conjunction with various provincial departments. Local government, however, needs to understand food systems so as to make evidence7based planning and policy decisions that will have long7 term impacts on their areas.”
In order to generate the evidence base to enable the City to make planning and policy decisions that will impact food insecurity the following questions were asked,:
(a) What are the components of Cape Town’s food system? How effective is it? What are the points of weakness in the systems? What interventions would be needed to achieve and sustain effective food systems in the city? What are the key threats to the system in the future and what mitigation strategies are needed?
(b) What is the status of food security in the city? Which instruments should be used to measure food security and what are the appropriate indicators? Where are the food vulnerable residents located? What are their coping strategies?
(c) What are the areas within the city’s boundaries that contribute towards the food systems and food security in Cape Town? How do you quantify their roles as production centres for food? How significant are they for food security in the city?
(d) Who are all the role7players in the field of food security in Cape Town – whose roles are enshrined in official mandates and whose are more voluntary – to inform what role the Council would play, i.e. what should the Council’s response be to food insecurity?
This report addresses these questions and provides a set of recommendations based on its findings and from applicable lessons from around the globe.
Supermarkets and informal food traders are important components of the urban food system and deliver different food security benefits to urban residents. Although supermarkets are generally cheaper per unit food, and are recognized to have higher food safety standards, they are not always responsive to the food security needs of the poor. Informal food retailers, including spazas and street traders, sell in smaller unit sizes, operate for longer hours and will often offer credit. These make them an important contributor to household food security. Therefore, a mix of retail types is important to ensure food security for the poor.
At present municipalities do not consider the food retail sector, and their role in shaping the food retail environment, as an element in ensuring food security. As a result local government planning and management of food retail, formal and informal, takes a purely local economic development or livelihoods approach. Informal traders have been over-regulated on the basis of food safety.
There is a need for a new approach to food security. Although there is a lack of formal mandate for local government, there are many activities taking place within existing mandates that impact the food system and therefore food security. Municipalities should therefore assess their role in enhancing or hindering food security. This policy brief recommends the following: a) Integrated (formal and informal sector) food retail planning should be a component of any food security strategy; b) The sale of healthy foods near transport hubs should be incentivized; and c) Municipalities should engage informal trader associations to co-develop appropriate means to ensure food safety
There is however little evidence to support the continued promotion of urban agriculture as the only local government response. The uptake of urban agriculture varies considerably across the country, but is below 10% in most of the metros. Available evidence indicates that it does not play a significant role in household consumption and is not a viable income generation strategy. There are significant weaknesses in available data, which make it hard to justify current levels of support for urban agriculture.
This policy brief makes two sets of recommendations, the first aim to increase the viability of urban agriculture, and the second set are to encourage municipalities to think beyond urban agriculture. In order to increase the viability of urban agriculture municipalities should develop outcome and impact monitoring and evaluation, partner with NGOs, and facilitate access to land and protect land for urban production. However, more importantly municipalities need to look beyond urban agriculture to address food insecurity. Expecting the urban poor, who have the least access to the resources (money, land, tools, seed, knowledge, equipment) necessary to establish successful agricultural ventures, to “grow their own” in order to uplift themselves out of poverty, fails to recognise the massive barriers constraining urban agriculture in South African cities. Municipalities should therefore view urban agriculture as part of the wider food system, strengthen linkages between urban agriculture and other parts of the urban food system,
seek to develop alternative food security programmes and policies within their existing mandates, and develop food security strategies which address the multiple drivers of food insecurity in order to achieve food security for all.
Although National policies and strategies continue to neglect the drivers of urban food security, the 2014 National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security does identify a role for local government. The National Development Plan argues for a more complex understanding of food security and its possible solutions. Although the vast majorty of local government food security initiatives focus on urban agriculture, there are indications that a more systemic approach is being considered.
This policy brief calls for national government to formally acknowledge the mandate for food security to local government, and for provincial government to provide more scope for local government to drive the provincial urban food security agenda. The South African Cities Network has an important role to play in driving these processes, and in providing opportunities for horizontal learning. The brief argues that local governments should seek to maximise their food security programming and interventions within their existing mandates and develop over-arching food security and food system strategies, which address sustaianability issues and vulnerabilities to mega-trends. Finally, it argues that food systems governance should be recognised as an intervention with multiple benefits and returns on investment.
Although the conceptual framing of food security has gradually shifted from a preoccupation with food availability to the inclusion of multiple dimensions of food security, food security policy and programmatic responses have lagged behind. The chapter considers the ways in which an expanded understanding of the four pillars in the African urban context can provide an entry point for novel interventions to alleviate food insecurity.
The nature of food insecurity is changing. Food insecure households continue to be malnourished in terms of essential nutrients for health and development, but they are also now characterised by increasing obesity, diabetes and hypertension. This shifting pathology necessitates a shift in thinking about food security and its causes. It can no longer be viewed solely, or even primarily, simply as a manifestation of household poverty. It must be viewed in the context of the wider food system, and other interconnected systems.
The Terms of Reference for this study identify the challenge of food insecurity in the following manner:
“Food security or the lack thereof is the outcome of complex and multi7dimensional factors comprising a food system. Therefore, food insecurity is the result of failures or inefficiencies in one or more dimensions of the food system. This necessitates a holistic analysis of the food system that than can provide insights into the various components of the system, especially in our context as a developing world city. That analysis must also take note of the constitutional mandates of the tiers of government in South Africa, such as the legal mandate for food security that rests with the national government, in conjunction with various provincial departments. Local government, however, needs to understand food systems so as to make evidence7based planning and policy decisions that will have long7 term impacts on their areas.”
In order to generate the evidence base to enable the City to make planning and policy decisions that will impact food insecurity the following questions were asked,:
(a) What are the components of Cape Town’s food system? How effective is it? What are the points of weakness in the systems? What interventions would be needed to achieve and sustain effective food systems in the city? What are the key threats to the system in the future and what mitigation strategies are needed?
(b) What is the status of food security in the city? Which instruments should be used to measure food security and what are the appropriate indicators? Where are the food vulnerable residents located? What are their coping strategies?
(c) What are the areas within the city’s boundaries that contribute towards the food systems and food security in Cape Town? How do you quantify their roles as production centres for food? How significant are they for food security in the city?
(d) Who are all the role7players in the field of food security in Cape Town – whose roles are enshrined in official mandates and whose are more voluntary – to inform what role the Council would play, i.e. what should the Council’s response be to food insecurity?
This report addresses these questions and provides a set of recommendations based on its findings and from applicable lessons from around the globe.
Supermarkets and informal food traders are important components of the urban food system and deliver different food security benefits to urban residents. Although supermarkets are generally cheaper per unit food, and are recognized to have higher food safety standards, they are not always responsive to the food security needs of the poor. Informal food retailers, including spazas and street traders, sell in smaller unit sizes, operate for longer hours and will often offer credit. These make them an important contributor to household food security. Therefore, a mix of retail types is important to ensure food security for the poor.
At present municipalities do not consider the food retail sector, and their role in shaping the food retail environment, as an element in ensuring food security. As a result local government planning and management of food retail, formal and informal, takes a purely local economic development or livelihoods approach. Informal traders have been over-regulated on the basis of food safety.
There is a need for a new approach to food security. Although there is a lack of formal mandate for local government, there are many activities taking place within existing mandates that impact the food system and therefore food security. Municipalities should therefore assess their role in enhancing or hindering food security. This policy brief recommends the following: a) Integrated (formal and informal sector) food retail planning should be a component of any food security strategy; b) The sale of healthy foods near transport hubs should be incentivized; and c) Municipalities should engage informal trader associations to co-develop appropriate means to ensure food safety
There is however little evidence to support the continued promotion of urban agriculture as the only local government response. The uptake of urban agriculture varies considerably across the country, but is below 10% in most of the metros. Available evidence indicates that it does not play a significant role in household consumption and is not a viable income generation strategy. There are significant weaknesses in available data, which make it hard to justify current levels of support for urban agriculture.
This policy brief makes two sets of recommendations, the first aim to increase the viability of urban agriculture, and the second set are to encourage municipalities to think beyond urban agriculture. In order to increase the viability of urban agriculture municipalities should develop outcome and impact monitoring and evaluation, partner with NGOs, and facilitate access to land and protect land for urban production. However, more importantly municipalities need to look beyond urban agriculture to address food insecurity. Expecting the urban poor, who have the least access to the resources (money, land, tools, seed, knowledge, equipment) necessary to establish successful agricultural ventures, to “grow their own” in order to uplift themselves out of poverty, fails to recognise the massive barriers constraining urban agriculture in South African cities. Municipalities should therefore view urban agriculture as part of the wider food system, strengthen linkages between urban agriculture and other parts of the urban food system,
seek to develop alternative food security programmes and policies within their existing mandates, and develop food security strategies which address the multiple drivers of food insecurity in order to achieve food security for all.
Although National policies and strategies continue to neglect the drivers of urban food security, the 2014 National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security does identify a role for local government. The National Development Plan argues for a more complex understanding of food security and its possible solutions. Although the vast majorty of local government food security initiatives focus on urban agriculture, there are indications that a more systemic approach is being considered.
This policy brief calls for national government to formally acknowledge the mandate for food security to local government, and for provincial government to provide more scope for local government to drive the provincial urban food security agenda. The South African Cities Network has an important role to play in driving these processes, and in providing opportunities for horizontal learning. The brief argues that local governments should seek to maximise their food security programming and interventions within their existing mandates and develop over-arching food security and food system strategies, which address sustaianability issues and vulnerabilities to mega-trends. Finally, it argues that food systems governance should be recognised as an intervention with multiple benefits and returns on investment.