Proceedings of the 15th International Academic Conference, Rome

THE DETERMINANTS OF URBAN FOOD SECURITY: INSIGHTS FROM A LOW INCOME NEIGHBORHOOD IN SOUTH AFRICA

WYNAND CAREL JOHANNES GROBLER

Abstract:

Heads of state attending the 1996 World Food Summit in 1996 signed the Rome Declaration on World Food Security re-affirming ”the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food, and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger (FAO,1996). Despite this more than 900 million people across the world were still food insecure in 2010 (FAO, 2010). Food Security is a critical problem facing policy makers in Sub Sahara Africa as more than 45 present of households have moderate to severe household food insecurity.. Research indicates that Africa’s population is moving to the cities and that by 2030 more than 50 percent of the population may reside in urban areas. Furthermore, food insecurity is becoming recognised as increasingly urban, with a lack of policy focus by governments to address the growing food insecurity problem in urban settings. Studies on the extent of poverty in South Africa show that almost half of its population lives in poverty. Food availability is not the only condition for food security in urban settings if households do not have financial resources to access food. Households rely on income for their food security, spend a large proportion of household s budget on food, and have little access to other safety nets like agriculture or land to ensure food access.. This paper examines the socio economic determinants of households which may impact on food insecurity in urban settings. A quantitative research method was deployed and a stratified random sample of 600 was used to determine which socio economic determinants determine food insecurity in an urban setting. Regression analyses were used to determine the effects of socio-economic determinants on household food insecurity. The results show that household food insecurity is influenced by the age of the head of the household, education of the head of the household, employment status of the head of the household, income of the head of the household, social grants received by the household and spending patterns of the household The study recommends that government should develop a more comprehensive strategy, focusing on urban areas in South Africa to increase access to food in the absence of available land to ensure access to food.

Keywords: Food Security, Economic Development, Welfare Economics, Spending Patterns, Socio Economic Determinants.

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2015.015.063

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