Household food security contextualised: a comparison of Ambros and Maramanzhi Villages, South Africa.

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dc.date.accessioned 2024-12-12T10:04:06Z
dc.date.available 2024-12-12T10:04:06Z
dc.date.issued 2024-11-13 en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/23638
dc.description.abstract Smallholder agriculture plays a crucial role in achieving food security, particularly at the household level. However, fallow fields are progressively increasing in former homelands of South Africa. While substantial efforts have been devoted towards addressing food insecurity, access to arable land has not translated to sustainable crop production for smallholder farmers in former homelands of the country. This paper analyses household food security in the context of deagrarianization in two villages, Ambros (Eastern Cape) and Maramanzhi (Limpopo). Using a mixed-method approach, a total of 106 semi-structured questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews with household heads. Descriptive statistics were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 computer program. Meanwhile, qualitative data was coded and content analysis was conducted on NVivo 12 software. The key findings revealed that the primary household income in the study area was earned from social grants. Furthermore, home gardens, with an average size of 4100m2 in Ambros and 4400m2 in Maramanzhi village, played a crucial role in supporting household crop production. However, food insecurity threatened the sustainability of rural livelihoods because the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) indicator highlighted that a majority of 54% of households in Ambros and 69% in Maramanzhi were mildly food insecure. Food insecurity challenges varied between the two villages but these were mainly perpetuated by food shortages caused by insufficient monthly income and waning household crop production. Although acquiring food was rated as a very important reason for cultivating in both villages, deagrarianization eroded opportunities for increased crop production. Among other solutions, this study recommends that the government improve the delivery of basic services such as water to promote household crop production and the revitalization of fallow fields. These transformations can potentially enhance food security, income and employment opportunities for rural households, contributing to the sustainability of rural livelihoods. en
dc.format.medium Print en
dc.subject SMALLHOLDER FARMING en
dc.subject SOUTH AFRICA en
dc.subject EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE en
dc.subject FOOD SECURITY en
dc.title Household food security contextualised: a comparison of Ambros and Maramanzhi Villages, South Africa. en
dc.type Journal Article en
dc.description.version Y en
dc.ProjectNumber N/A en
dc.Volume 10(21) en
dc.BudgetYear 2024/25 en
dc.ResearchGroup African Institute of South Africa en
dc.SourceTitle Heliyon en
dc.ArchiveNumber 9814665 en
dc.PageNumber Online en
dc.outputnumber 15322 en
dc.bibliographictitle Mkhongi, F.A., Musakwa, W. & Mokhele, T. (2024) Household food security contextualised: a comparison of Ambros and Maramanzhi Villages, South Africa.. Heliyon. 10(21):Online. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/23638 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/23638 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/23638 en
dc.publicationyear 2024 en
dc.contributor.author1 Mkhongi, F.A. en
dc.contributor.author2 Musakwa, W. en
dc.contributor.author3 Mokhele, T. en


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