Changes in household food security, nutrition and food waste along an agro-ecological gradient and the rural-urban continuum in mid-sized South African towns
- Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Food security -- South Africa , Women -- South Africa -- Nutritiona , Urban women -- South Africa -- Nutrition , Rural women -- South Africa -- Nutrition , Wild foods -- South Africa , Food supply -- South Africa , Malnutrition in children -- South Africa , Grants-in-aid -- South Africa , Household ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6484 , vital:21127
- Description: The lack of dietary diversity is a severe problem experienced by most poor households globally. Most poor communities are at high risk of inadequate intake of micronutrients resulting from diets dominated by starchy staples. The present study considered the diets, dietary diversities and food security of women of reproductive age between 15-49 years, households and communities along the rural-urban continuum in three mid-sized towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient in South Africa. A 48-hour dietary recall was performed across two seasons (twice in summer and once in winter) and focus group discussions were held to gather all information including food abundance, seasons of food scarcity as well as coping strategies which households employ during periods of food shocks. Households were further asked to quantify any type of food waste that they could have generated in the previous 48 hours. Nutritional status of children under the age of five in all three towns was also measured using height-for-age (HAZ) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) as indicators of stunting and wasting respectively. The household surveys were conducted with 554 women randomly selected in rural, peri-urban and urban locations of Richards Bay, Dundee and Harrismith. For nutritional status, the sample consisted of 216 children who were randomly selected from the sampled households in rural, peri-urban and urban locations of the study sites. Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) and Women’s Dietary Diversity Scores (WDDS) were calculated from the food items consumed by each household and each woman over a two-day period, respectively. Household food access was also measured for each household using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The mean WDDS and HDDS for the wettest site of Richards Bay (3.8±0.29 and 8.44±1.72, respectively) was significantly higher than at Dundee (3.4±0.30 and 7.76±1.63, respectively) and Harrismith (3.5±0.27 and 7.83±1.59, respectively) which were not different from one another. The mean HFIAS for Dundee (9.39±7.13) was significantly higher than that in Richards Bay (5.57±6.98) and Harrismith (6.43±6.59) which were not significantly different from one another. Dietary diversity scores were also significantly higher in urban locations than in peri-urban and rural ones whilst HFIAS was significantly lower in the urban locations than peri-urban and rural locations. There was lower dependence on food purchasing in Richards Bay compared to Dundee and Harrismith where the majority of the population was purchasing most of their food. The majority of Richards Bay households were involved in subsistence agriculture and also produced a surplus for sale, as well as collecting wild foods, which improved food security, unlike Dundee and Harrismith. Food insecurity was higher in rural and peri-urban areas compared to urban areas. In all towns, food was always available throughout the year but was beyond the reach of many households. In urban areas food was readily available and only limited by access, whereas rural populations have limited access to affordable food and face higher prices. The peri-urban populations were more food insecure because of high levels of poverty, unemployment and lack of access/entitlements to land. Periurban dwellers are therefore more sensitive to changes in incomes and food prices because they lack safety nets to absorb income or price shocks as they purchase more, rather than growing their own food. Household dietary diversity was significantly negatively correlated with household food access, that is households with low HDDS had higher HFIAS scores. Due to high levels of food insecurity, a greater percentage of children under the age of five years were stunted (35 %) and wasted (18 %). There were no significant differences in stunting along the agro-ecological gradient, along the rural-urban continuum and sex of child. However, significant differences were observed in child wasting along the agro-ecological gradient with Harrismith having more wasted children than the other two towns, which were not significantly different from each other. Significant differences were also observed between MUAC and sex of child where male children had higher MUAC than females. Wasting was significantly negatively associated with HDDS, with children from households with low HDDS tending to have large MUAC thus showing an inverse association among HDDS and obesity. However, further studies are needed to confirm this finding. In general food insecurity was closely associated with low wealth, food expenditure, large household size and limited access to land. The study did not find any significant role in the use of wild foods and social grants in improving food security for those households who were consuming wild foods and those receiving social grants. Although a greater percentage of households were food insecure, significant amounts of unprepared food (495±179 g per household) were wasted in Richards Bay alone in 48 hours mainly because the food had passed the best before date or had visibly gone bad. The amount of food waste was closely significantly negatively associated with household size. In general, the prevalence of food insecurity and wasting followed the agro-ecological gradient, with households in Richards Bay where the area.
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The contribution of non-timber forest products to rural livelihoods and their price determination in different agro-ecological zones of South Africa
- Authors: Mugido, Worship
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5176 , vital:20783
- Description: A large number of studies have been conducted on the contribution of different types of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to rural livelihoods. However, not many of these have considered the context in which these contributions are made, especially agro-ecological potential. Similarly, there are few studies that focus on the price setting of NTFPs in different settings as most are based on a single or relatively few sites. Thus, there is no indication of the prevalence of the different factors within a uniform macro context, nor how they might vary between different types of NTFPs. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to establish the contribution of NTFPs to rural livelihoods and their price determination in areas of varying agro-ecological potential of South Africa. The study used data from 1 200 randomly selected households across four agro-ecological zones of South Africa to quantify the contribution of NTFP income to total household income, the proportion of households selling at least a single NTFP and the nature and extent of use of NTFPs as safety nets in areas of varying agro-ecological potential. In addition, 300 sellers of NTFPs in 15 towns across South Africa were interviewed to assess the factors they take into account when setting prices. The findings of this study support the argument that the level of dependence on NFTPs varies with agro-ecological conditions. This was supported by the significant difference between the NTFP incomes of the following pairs of agro-ecological classes: very low and low, medium and high. About 6.4 % households reported selling one or more NTFPs for various reasons, with many (39 %) citing the need to earn cash income and limited employment opportunities (16.9 %). Income from trading NTFPs is undoubtedly an important source of cash income for many rural households. Thus, 300 sellers, selling either at home or in town, were interviewed and the majority (79.3 %) of the sellers reported that selling NTFPs was their main source of cash household income, with only 8 % and 5.7 % receiving their main cash household income from state child grants and state pension grants, respectively. The pricing factors considered by sellers when setting the prices of NTFPs tended to vary with the type of NTFP being sold, type of market (home markets or urban markets) and the method used by the seller to procure the stock. However, overall, transport costs (29 %), stock price (18.4 %), profit margin (12.7 %), time taken to collect or produce the product (7.3 %) and the market price (6.4 %) were the widely used factors to determine prices for NTFPs. The reported various pricing factors showed that there was no formal or certain price mechanism that was used by the sellers of NTFPs to establish the market prices of NTFPs. The study found that about 79 % of the total households interviewed experienced at least one shock of some magnitude in the previous 12 months. The most common shocks were illness (43 %), death (42 %), crop failure (29 %) and hunger (22 %). The households employed various coping strategies (21) in response to different types of shocks, with the three widely used strategies being assistance from friends and relatives (60.1 %), using cash savings (37.9%) and using NTFPs (35.6 %). Shocks, hunger or food shortage and crop failure were significantly and positively related to the usage of NTFPs as safety nets. Therefore, households who experienced hunger or food shortage and crop failure were likely to use NTFPs to cope with these shocks. The study concluded that NTFPs are an integral part of the rural livelihoods, especially for the households living close to the survival line.
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The Contribution of fruit from trees to improve household nutritional security in the context of deforestation in Cameroon
- Authors: Tata epse Ngome, Precillia Ijang
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/793 , vital:19991
- Description: Cameroon needs healthy citizens to archive emergence by 2035. Malnutrition and undernourishment is the highest burden in the World in recent times and a silent crisis facing most rural communities in forest areas of Cameroon. Its abstruseness makes extremely fragile political, social and economic planning to foster development in such areas. Therefore, it is time we bring appropriate understanding and new strategies on unpacking the complexities of food and nutritional security and define practical solutions to food insecurity. Working in the context of increasing deforestation, this thesis brings evidence on the situation of household food insecurity (FIS) access experience in forest areas which is not reported in current discussions at the national level. It further investigates the knowledge and awareness of households on the availability, accessibility, utilisation, vulnerability and consumption of nutrient rich food items using the example of fruits from trees. Thus, the aim of this research was to investigate strategies for addressing household FIS through increased domestic supply and consumption of fruits from trees in the context of deforestation in Cameroon. Data were collected through four rounds of structured interviews completed between August 2013 and October 2014. Analysis was done using simple citations and ordering, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Likert scale, χ2-test of association and Cramer's V coefficient to test the strength of the association and means and ANOVA. The HFIAS approach used to determine household FIS. Only 1% of the population were food secure and the moderately deforested zone showed the worst trends in food insecurity. Therefore, the effect of deforestation was nuanced. Diverse fruit trees were registered. Households said they required fruits only 2.4 ± 1.5 times per week. Recently, the intake of 400 g of fruit per person per day for good health was announced as a priority of international recognition. However, households were not aware of the importance and frequency of fruit consumption with less than 50% of households eating fruits daily during the harvesting season. Fruit tree nurseries where scarce and seeds where obtained from local sources. Fruit tree diseases where rampant and up to 50% harvest lost was registered for some fruits species. This study has shown that food availability does not necessarily mean adequate food intake. Three opinions about fruit trees and the prevalence of food insecurity in Cameroon has been raised in this thesis. First, there is ineffectiveness in the eradication of FIS because even in agricultural conducive environments, hunger and food insecurity are still prevalent at high rates. Therefore, effective and efficient targeting of food insecured groups need to be promoted in all clusters of the population. Secondly, the national nutrition program is neglecting sensitisation on food consumption patterns and therefore people are not making use of nutrient rich foods even when this maybe found around their environments - taking the case of fruits from trees. Thus, very few people ate fruits and at irregular frequencies of consumption. Thus, there is need to design special campaign programs to promote the consumption of fruits from trees. Thirdly, the word-of-mouth or neighbour-to-neighbour dissemination approach on fruit trees planting has not been efficient across communities. As such nurseries where scarce and people obtained fruit trees plants from natural regeneration or found them on the field when establishing the field. Therefore, in this research, it is postulated that no matter the nature of efforts and level of intervention, what is certain is that addressing FIS requires effective targeting of the vulnerable population and the implementation of novel and practical approaches on promoting access to and consumption of fruits in the right frequencies. This research further revealed that poor eating habits was a problem and lack of knowledge about the frequency and intake of nutrient rich food was serious. For instance, people were not aware on the recommended frequency of fruit consumption and people ate infested fruit while reserving the healthy ones for sale. This is the trap of the food insecurity problem in some regions – knowledge about foods and ways of food utilisation. This is neither a problem of availability nor accessibility, but rather a problem of lack of knowledge and lack of sensitisation. From FAO reports on the state of food insecurity in the world and other studies of food intake in most developing nation, poor food consumption is a global problem in most poor regions and even in rich areas affected by obesity. Thus, there is a need to establish a high level policy framework maybe in the form of a convention or an intergovernmental panel at the level of the United Nations and/or the African Union on ‘reducing malnutrition in all its forms (rates, drivers and consequences on human health and the environment)’. This structure will promote setting priorities, strategies, monitoring on peoples eating habits, setting nutritional standards, and principles and indicators for observing under nutrition, over nutrition and associated problems within all population strata.
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Invasion of Lantana into India: analyzing introduction, spread, human adaptations and management
- Authors: Hari Krishnan, Ramesh Kannan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Lantana -- India Weeds -- Control -- India Plant introduction -- India Natural resources -- India Botany, Economic -- India Botany -- Social aspects -- India
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4728 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001756
- Description: Objectives and Research Questions 1. To reconstruct the history of invasion of Lantana in India from where, by who, and when was Lantana species introduced into India?, given its long history in the country, is it still spreading or has it become more or less stable? 2. To study the human adaptation to Lantana invasion: socioeconomic causes and consequences of the use of Lantana as an alternative source of livelihood for forest dependent communities in southern India; how have local communities adapted to the invasion?; what are the key determinants that may have driven communities to use Lantana?; what are the economic consequences of the use of Lantana by local communities? 3. To critically review local practices and forest policy for the management of Lantana in southern India.; how has the use of Lantana by local communities impacted its local regeneration?; does the use of Lantana in local context have implications for its management?; what has been the role of the Forest Department and its policies in managing Lantana?
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On the implementation effectiveness and efficiency of ecological interventions in operational contexts : the case of Working for Water
- Authors: McConnachie, Matthew Morgan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Working for Water Programme Alien plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Alien plants -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Alien plants -- Control -- Cost effectiveness -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Conservation of natural resources -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Acacia mearnsii -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Revegetation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Restoration ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Environmental degradation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4729 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001956
- Description: There is little understanding of the implementation efficiency and effectiveness of restoring plant invaded landscapes within operational contexts. South Africa's Working for Water (WfW) programme is arguably the most ambitious alien plant control programme in the world, yet little is known about its cost-effectiveness and the challenges it faces in linking poverty and environmental objectives. My first aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of invasive plant removal, and the factors that underpin its effectiveness over large spatial and temporal scales. The second aim was to compare the accuracy of evidence-based findings with managers' experience-based beliefs, and to assess whether managers are willing to change their beliefs after being exposed to it. The third aim was to assess the costs and benefits of removal versus removal followed by active native re-vegetation. My final aim is to assess the challenges and lessons learnt by managers linking ecological restoration with poverty alleviation objectives, specifically within the public works model. My study area was focused primarily on two WfW river catchment projects in the western region of the Eastern Cape province. I adopted an interdisciplinary approach drawing from a range of methods such as observational studies, statistical modelling and interviews with managers. The key findings were that control efforts in the two catchment projects are largely inadequate owing to many sites being re-invaded and not enough resources being allocated to the catchments. It would take between 54 and 695 years to clear the respective catchments. In terms of cost-effectiveness, my results exceeded previous estimates by 1.5 to 8.6 times for each catchment project. After being exposed to the evidence-based findings, the managers did not change their beliefs when it came to forecasting the future effectiveness. I found that active native re-vegetation after removal of invasive plants is very costly and that priority should be given to understanding the effectiveness of the removal treatments on native species recovery. The managers cited significant challenges in effectively and efficiently meeting the programmes dual objectives. Based on a broader review of the public works literature I recommend WfW re-examine the type of public works they currently use.
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Rural livelihoods, forest products and poverty alleviation: the role of markets
- Authors: Mutamba, Manyewu
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Rural development -- Zambia Rural poor -- Zambia Zambia -- Rural conditions Forest management -- Zambia Forest conservation -- Zambia Households -- Economic aspects -- Zambia Forest products -- Zambia Forests and forestry -- Zambia Non-timber forest products -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4741 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006081
- Description: There is growing acknowledgement that forests and forest products are central to rural livelihoods, but their role in lifting households out of poverty remains contentious. This study tested the assertion by proponents of forest based poverty alleviation that changing conditions in the use and management of forests and forest products has created opportunities for poor rural households to lift themselves out of poverty. The study used detailed annual income data from various household sectors in two contrasting sites in Zambia, namely Mufulira and Kabompo districts, analyzing the relative contribution of forest income to household livelihood, the effect of household wealth status on forest use, factors driving household participation in forest product trade, and the influence of distance to urban markets on trends in the use of forest products. The study found that forest based activities play a central role in the livelihoods of households in the two study sites, contributing close to half of total household income, and dwarfing the contribution of agricultural sectors such as cropping and livestock rearing which are generally regarded as the main income sources for rural households. Forest based sectors were also found to be particularly valuable sources of household cash, often coming at critical times to meet basic needs. The findings also revealed that without the contribution of forest income, the proportion of households that would fall below the poverty line would increase sharply in both study sites. Wealthier households earned higher magnitudes of both subsistence and cash income from forest based activities than their poorer counterparts. Even the share of total household income coming from forest based activities was also higher among these better-off households, confirming that these activities are lucrative and they are improving the wealth status of households. Household participation in forest product trade was found to be influenced by demographic factors such as number of productive household members, age and the education level of the household head. Economic factors such as the level of income from wage labour, household poverty level, and ownership of key assets such as a bicycle were found to be important. Distance of homestead from the forest was also found to be an important contextual variable. The influence of urban demand on the use of forest products by rural households was significant in the study area. Although local sales played an important part as a source of cash for households, the most preferred channels for trade were linked to urban markets, either through roadside markets, middlemen or direct sales to urban buyers. The study concluded that with improved local organization and support for product development and marketing, some forest based activities provide a viable poverty alleviation option for poor rural households who otherwise have limited economic opportunities to escape poverty.
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The restoration of an alien-invaded riparian zone in grassy fynbos, South Africa
- Authors: Fourie, Saskia
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fynbos ecology -- South Africa Riparian ecology -- South Africa Riparian restoration -- South Africa Alien plants -- South Africa Invasive plants -- South Africa Endemic plants -- South Africa Plants -- Effect of fires on -- South Africa Soil seed banks -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003840
- Description: The most recent surveys in South Africa estimate that invasions are still increasing, despite substantial clearing efforts. Riparian systems in South Africa are particularly vulnerable to invasion by woody IAPs. This thesis addresses the restoration of alien‐invaded riparian systems, by investigating the factors that facilitate or constrain spontaneous recovery and influence the trajectories of succession. These factors include invasion history and management history, especially the use of fire. A seedling emergence approach was used to test the presence of a viable pre‐fire seedbank, and the effect of fire on the seed bank. The efficacy of some active restoration interventions was also tested, with the aim to return invasion‐resistant, indigenous vegetation with a structure and function representative of uninvaded sites. The findings of this study indicated the presence of a viable and persistent riparian soil seed bank, even after 30 years of intermtittent invasion as well as two fire cycles under invasion. It shows that the management practice of fell‐and‐burn resulted in high soil temperatures, and that this reduced the indigenous soil seed bank density, especially in the upper soil layer. Clear germination sequences and patterns of emergence over time for different species were observed during this study, with many species exhibiting delayed emergence relative to the timing of the fire event. It is proposed that manipulation of the season of fire could be used to selectively optimise the order of arrival and therefore superior recruitment of some species over others in the Eastern Cape fynbos, and thus alter the trajectories of recovery of vegetation towards a more desired state. Active restoration in the form of indigenous seed and plant additions resulted in a significantly higher indigenous cover after seven months, compared to a control (passive restoration) or restoring with grass. Indigenous cover and composition was also strongly influenced by lateral zonation, and some key guilds and species were missing or present in much lower densities compared to reference sites. Grass restoration significantly suppressed the regeneration of A. longifolia, as well as the regeneration of indigenous species. Biotic resistance can thus be achieved through restoration, and it could be a powerful tool in the management of IAPs, although the deliberate introduction of grass after clearing in fynbos also reduces biodiversity and could have unforeseen consequences to riparian function.
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The impact of HIV and AIDS on household food security and food acquisition strategies in South Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, S A H
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Food security -- South Africa Food supply -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa HIV infections -- Social aspects -- South Africa Chronically ill -- Economic conditions -- South Africa Chronically ill -- Social conditions -- South Africa Food -- Social aspects -- South Africa Food -- Economic aspects -- South Africa Rural development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4754 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007137
- Description: How should the impact of HIV and AIDS on rural livelihoods be factored into efforts to monitor and stabilise household food security? With both HIV and AIDS and food security at the top of the global development agenda, this is a question posed by many scholars, practitioners, donor agencies and government departments. However, while there is an excess of discourse outlining the theoretical bases for how HIV and AIDS can, and is, radically transforming household food acquisition; there is a lack of empirical evidence from the South African context that demonstrates if, and how, HIV and AIDS changes household-level strategies of food acquisition and intake. This thesis explores the association of household-level mortality, chronic illness and additional child-dependent fostering with household experience of food security and food acquisition strategies, in three rural villages in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data-collection were applied to 307 households in the three sites. For twelve months, both HIV and AIDS-afflicted and non-afflicted households were repeatedly visited at 3-month intervals, in order to be assessed for levels of food security, dietary intake and method of food procurement (purchased, cultivated, wild or donated). Overall, HIV and AIDS-afflicted households showed a significantly higher experience of food insecurity, probably attributable to shortages in food quantity. Dietary composition and overall diversity, however, was not significantly different. Although households with chronic illness and recent mortality showed a heightened investment in cultivation sources, the success of these strategies were to a great extent mediated by household income, and the level of medical treatment received by those who were chronically ill. Chronic illness was also associated with more donations, but these required considerable investments in social capital networks. Finally, use of wild leafy vegetables was not associated with household HIV and AIDS status, despite the financial, nutritional and labour-saving properties of these foods. Overall, the study suggests that there was little evidence of long-term planning and strategy in household food security responses. There was no evidence for shifts to labour-saving crops or foods and, in some instances, child labour was being used to ameliorate prime-adult labour deficits. Moreover, given that the vast majority (89.2%) of food groups were sourced through purchase, it is questionable whether investing in diverse food acquisition strategies would be advisable. Unless supported by medical treatment and steady earned household income, policies to promote intensified household agricultural subsistence production in the wake of HIV and AIDS are unlikely to provide households with anything more than short-term safety-nets, rather than long-term, sustainable food security solutions.
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