The gendered dimensions of food security in South Africa: a review of the literature

Abstract

The study establishes that interventions addressing food insecurity in its gendered context imply that women are playing key roles in households and that to meet the food gaps, a combination of factors need to be employed by women and girls that must be supported by the policy framework. Consequently, gender needs to be more strongly foregrounded as a feature of the policy framework; more targeted programmes focused on female-headed households require attention. There is a marked absence of empirical studies addressing women and gender in the food insecurity arena, and that a more holistic understanding of problems is required. To this end, issues such as natural disasters, education, poverty, ageing, technology, ageing, genetically modified foods etc.), should be prioritised in future policy that addresses the multidimensionality of food security to ensure a grounded understanding that could alleviate potential problems related to the position of women and gender more broadly in relation to food security.