Causal linkages between communal tenure and food security: a case of Vhembe district, South Africa

Abstract

The need to establish the causal link between communal tenure and food security is progressively gaining currency as governments and development organisations refocus their exertion towards helping indigenous peoples to move away from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Many scholars contend that food security and poverty reduction cannot be accomplished except issues of access to land, security of tenure and the ability to use land profitably and sustainably are tended to. This study was conducted in Vhembe district, where communal tenure and agrarian practices still prevail. The paper established how communal tenures can contribute to food security in the Vhembe district, South Africa. The paper employed the qualitative methodology, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Despite the fact that the findings highlight a lack of security of tenure, it is astonishing that a majority of the participants felt secure and contended that communal tenure was effective in ensuring food security. The paper recommends secure customary tenure to improve food security.