Many households in South Africa are exposed to extreme food insecurity that threatens their livelihoods. Authorities in the local sphere of government have employed food security strategies to curb the trail of food insecurity that prevails in many rural households. However, high levels of food insecurity in many households in across the country, especially those living in rural areas like Qamata Village, are noteworthy. Contributing factors to this problem are attributed to local government’s inability to successfully stimulate agricultural production in the face of climate change. The research aimed at assessing the impact of Qamata Irrigation Scheme intervention programmes or strategies in Qamata Village. It was discovered that livelihoods of many households in Qamata Village rely heavily on agricultural production to access food. Limited government support, poor planning and failure to invest on climate change adaptation strategies were identified as serious impediments in the implementation of food security strategies. Due to the enormity of the problem and extensive nature of local government, this study focussed on the Qamata Irrigation Scheme, in the Qamata Village within Chris Hani District Municipality. For the purposes of this study, qualitative research methods were used to gather an in-depth understanding and verification of the problem. Research tools used were mainly semi structured interviews and focus group discussions. Interviews were conducted with farmers in the Qamata Irrigation Scheme and focus group discussion were held with dry land farming households in the Qamata Village and representatives from the CHDM. Findings of the study revealed that the decline in agricultural production due to climate changes has not only fuelled food insecurity for dry land farming households but put these households in an economically disadvantaged position. This was a major concern for this research especially with agricultural production being identified as a livelihood strategy for many households in the Qamata Village.

Community food gardens are regarded as a means through which rural households can improve their livelihoods. This study explores the contribution of community food gardens (CFG) to livelihoods in the Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality in the Limpopo province. The objectives of this study are, firstly to explore the reason behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. Secondly, the study seeks to identify the socio-economic factors influencing the participation of households in CFG and lastly to determine the influence of CFG and other socio-economic variables on household food security status (HFSS). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the socio-economic characteristics and the reasons behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of household participation in community food gardens as well as the contribution of CFG to HFSS on Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 21. Through a structured questionnaire, data was collected from a sample of 180 households which was obtained using multistage sampling. Descriptive results on the characteristics of sampled households revealed that there are high levels of food security in the area with 70% being food secure of which around 42.2% are CFG participants and 30% are food insecure. Furthermore the descriptive statistical analysis indicated that participation of households in CFG is mainly to obtain a source of food among the CFG participants and to generate income amongst the non-participants. On the basis of descriptive analysis, this study concludes that source of food and income generation respectively are the main reasons behind CFG participation and the possibilities of becoming a participant. Therefore the study accepts the research hypothesis stating that “There are social and economic reasons behind household participation and the possibilities of participating in CFG”. Binary results for the determinants of CFG participation revealed that socio-economic variables such as household size, farm income, household monthly income, land size, household perception, marital status, agricultural training and homestead gardening significantly influence household decisions to participate in CFG. This is an implication that socio-economic variables tested in this study are significantly influential to the household decision to participate in CFG, leading to the acceptance of the first hypothesis which states that “Socioeconomic factors determine the community food garden ownership or participation”. The results of the contribution made by CFG to HFSS showed that socioeconomic variables such as gender, age, household size, farm income, educational level, household monthly income, marital status, information access, formal employment status and CFG involvement significantly affect household food security status in the study area. The result indicates a positive contribution to HFSS and implies that socio-economic variables tested in this study have a significant influence on HFSS, leading to the acceptance of the second hypothesis which states that “Community food gardens have a positive effect on food security status of household in Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality Limpopo province.” Therefore it is relevant to concluded that in the area of Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality, social economic factors plays a vital role in the participation of households in CFG as well as improving the state household food security status.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Livestock production is the most important sub-sector in agriculture in South Africa. It contributes a very large proportion to the agricultural gross domestic product. It has been identified as the sub-sector that has potential in improving food security and livelihoods of the rural people. The current study analyses the determinants of market participation and profitability of IDC Nguni smallholder farmers in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The aim of the study was to contribute to the body of knowledge that exist in the study area, particularly of Limpopo Province livestock marketing by analysing determinants of market participation and profitability. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. All IDC Nguni Project beneficiaries (62 famers)were included in the survey. Descriptive data were analysed using Version 23 of SPSS. The logistic regression was used to analyse market participation data, multiple regression was used for profitability data and livelihood model for assessing the contribution of the project to livelihoods. The models were analysed using Stata 14. The results revealed that 59% of the respondents participated in the market and 41% of respondents did not participate. The study revealed that 54% of the respondents indicate that market access was easy and only 38% of respondents indicated that market access was not easy and 8% of respondents revealed that they do not know how the market access was because they were not yet selling. Seventy percent of the farmers perceived their livelihoods being improved after joining IDC Nguni Cattle Project whereas 23% of the farmers perceived their livelihood not improve after joining IDC Nguni Cattle Project. Gross margin computation showed that 52% of the farmers made gross margins ranging between R2 000 and R481 200 during the 2015 production/marketing season. The overall gross margins showed that 46% of the farmers made loss ranging from R7 300 to R170 500 during the 2015 marketing season, and 2% of the smallholder farmers were operating break-even point. The average gross margin for Community Property Associations was R6 031 while for individual farmers it was R16 082. The decision making process, for example to sell vii livestock, may be complex in the CPAs and hence a higher gross margin results for individual farmers than for CPAs. Thirty-six percent of CPAs made a loss, while 49% of individual farmers also made loss during 2015. The results of logistic regression showed that marital status, education level, loan repayment, price of an animal and household income were all significant factors (at various probability levels and with different signs), influencing market participation in the study area. A multiple regression model revealed that empirically the herd size, farm size and distance travelled to the market were significant at various probability levels and with different signs influencing profitability in the study area. Livelihood model results revealed that recent increase in farm income and farm size were all significant at different probability levels and with different signs influencing smallholder farmers' livelihood improvement in the Limpopo Province. The study identified some challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Limpopo Province. The major ones were inadequate access of market information, high transactional costs, poor conditions of the animals and poor access to markets. Policy makers should come up with policies that support the smallholder farmers with formal training, seminars and workshops to improve profitability of the farmers. Basic training of production and marketing may enable the smallholder farmer to increase profits. Other recommendations were formation of farmers' organisations, access to financial resources and private-public collaboration to establish central selling points. / Department of Science and Technology-National Research Foundation (DST-NRF) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Food Security and National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC)

The inadequate food safety knowledge by street food vendors have been a challenge encountered in ensuring safety of street foods. The aim of this study was to assess the food safety knowledge of street food vendors in the Johannesburg metropolis and to evaluate the conformance and monitoring of their street food vending facilities in accordance to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises in South Africa. A cross sectional survey was conducted in which 315 street food vendors and 155 street food vending facilities were observed using a questionnaire instrument and observational checklist, respectively. The majority (61.3%) of the street food vendors were females and most (64.1%) of them had not attended a food safety training course. Only a few (12.1%) street food vendors knew the correct minimum internal cooking temperature for stuffed chicken, while less than half knew the correct temperature for cold and hot holding of ready-to-eat foods, 40% and 39% respectively. The majority of them have never heard of Salmonella (92.7%), Campylobacter (95.2%), Listeria (57.1%), Clostridium (94.3%), or Staphylococcus (87.6%). Up to 52% street food vendors had moderate food safety knowledge. Most of the street food vending facilities (68.3%) had been inspected by health inspectors and only 17% of street food vending facilities had low level of compliance to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises and the transport of food in South Africa. The overall food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Johannesburg metropolis was moderate. The level of compliance and monitoring of street food vending facilities to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises in South Africa was satisfactory. Street food vendors should be trained on internal cooking temperature, hot and cold storage temperature of ready-to-eat foods, and food pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Clostridium, and Staphylococcus / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

(Ph. D. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The issues regarding the determinants of agricultural production and food supply are currently of great interest in developing countries. This, in turn, has led to the undertaking of this study focusing on the effectiveness of incentives that can be offered within the agricultural sector to boost production. The study aims to model the supply response of key agricultural commodities to price incentives, price risk and non-price incentives. Special focus is given to four major grain crops, namely; maize, wheat, sorghum and barley, which are of strategic interest to South Africa. The emphasis of the study is on two significant aspects of agricultural supply response: First, an attempt is made to determine the level of price risk among the selected grain crops using two distinct price risk measures. Second, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag-Error Correction Model (ARDL-ECM) approach to cointegration is used to estimate the responsiveness of grain producers to price risk, price incentives and non-price incentives. Annual historical time series data of 49 observations for the period 1970 to 2018 is used in the analysis. Data is tested for stationarity using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and the Dickey-Fuller Generalised Least Square (DF-GLS) detrending test. The empirical results reveal that grain supply in South Africa is reasonably responsive to price incentives. However, the degree of responsiveness is low and varies among different crops. Depending on the crop, the results show that own price supply elasticities range from about 0.24 to 0.75. Supply elasticities for nonprice factors are much higher, indicating that non-price incentives (i.e. rainfall, fertiliser, technology) are better production drivers than price incentives in South Africa. Thus, instead of regarding price mechanisms as being the only tools to promote agricultural production, it is concluded that further expansion of irrigation facilities and encouraging the adoption of drought-resistant varieties will stimulate grain production. The results underscore the relevance of price risk in determining production output and show that greater price risk leads to reduced production levels, particularly for maize and barley. In light of such evidence, any policy initiatives undertaken to stabilise the grain industry should look into proposing packages (i.e., forward contracts, futures contracts, contract farming) that reduce the negative impacts of price volatility in grain commodity markets

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Food insecurity is prevalent in less developing countries and it remains a major issue in South African households, especially among those living in rural areas. Therefore, the study examined the factors influencing food security among small-scale maize farmers in Polokwane Local Municipality. The aim of the study was to assess the factors influencing food security among small-scale maize farmers. The objectives of the study were to: identify and describe the socio-economic characteristics, determine the household food security status, examine factors influencing food security of small-scale maize farmers, and identify the constraints faced by the small-scale maize farmers in ensuring food security. Primary data was collected from a sample size of 150 farmers through wellstructured questionnaires, while HFIAS was used to determine the food security status and Logistic Regression model was employed to analyze the data. The descriptive statistics showed that 56.7% of the participants were females, whereas 43.3% were males. It was further indicated that the average age of youth was 34.2%; whilst 65.8% was average age of adults and 69.3% of the farmers have attended school while 30.7% have never attended school. The HFIAS results showed that 53% of households were food secure and 47% were food insecure which include 16.0% mildly, 21.3% moderately and 9.3% severely food insecure. The logistic regression results revealed that among twelve variables included, only six variables including age of the farmer, educational level, household size, household income, farm size and access to credit were found to have significant relationship to food security status of the farmers. The study therefore recommends that there must be provision of agricultural information that will motivate adults to continue farming. Training of farmers on improving food security should be provided through workshops as well as family planning programmes to reduce family size. Furthermore, there must be expansion of off-farm income generating activities as well as increase in farm size and enhancement in access to credit institutions such as MAFISA, Land bank and Commercial banks that will assist in improving the food security status of the respondents / NSFAS (National Students Financial Aid Scheme) and NRF (National Research Foundation)

Street-vended foods are convenient and cheap meals, but their contamination can lead to foodborne illness. This study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Ulundi and AbaQulusi local municipalities of Zululand District, South Africa and compliance of their street food vending environment to sanitary requirements. A cross sectional survey design was utilised to gather data from 400 street food vendors using interviews. A piloted checklist was used to collect data on the sanitary characteristics from 200 randomly selected street food vending facilities. Most of the street food vendors were black (99%), females (73%), and above 35 years (55%). Only the minority of street food vendors had attended a high school (47%) and the vast majority (77%) of them had not attended any food safety training course. The majority (64.7%) of respondents knew that food should not be handled when they have diarrhoea, even if their hands were washed regularly, neither when they have flu, colds, cough, or catarrh. The minority (43%) of street food vendors knew that the use of separate cutting boards for meat and salad, and washing them between uses are the safest ways to avoid cross-contamination. The majority (79.4%) of street food vendors were aware that microorganisms could cause foodborne diseases that may lead to death. The vast majority (76%) of street food vendors had low food safety knowledge and only 14% of the street food vending sites had high compliance with sanitary conditions. In conclusion, most street food vendors possessed inadequate food safety knowledge in key food safety parameters and most of the street food vending facilities were noncompliant. Furthermore, most of them operate under poor sanitary conditions. Street food vendors should be provided with compliant waste disposal and standard kitchen facilities with water resources to ensure hygienic preparation and serving of food. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

Thesis (Ph.D. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / In South Africa, the presence of inland waterbodies provides opportunities for households to engage in fishing activities. The existence of fish and the availability of several waterbodies in the country's inland provinces provide households with alternative means of generating income and food security. With the prevalence of food insecurity, high unemployment, and poverty in the country, inland fisheries serve as an economic safety net, food, and source of income for rural poor households who live near impoundments. However, policymakers in South Africa have overlooked inland fisheries as a means of supporting rural livelihoods. Furthermore, the sector's economic and social contribution is frequently overlooked and underappreciated. Thus, inland fisheries are classified as informal due to the lack of legislation, despite the fact that rural households rely on this sector for income and food. Furthermore, the inland fisheries value chain is short, with little evidence of post-harvesting activities, and the roles and functions of rural households in this value chain are unknown. Despite this, inland fisheries provide a low-cost source of protein for households, and hence this sector has the potential to help reduce poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. Given this background information, the study aimed at assessing the contribution of inland fisheries to income generation and food security in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The objectives of the study were to identify and describe the socio-economic characteristics of households and their different roles and functions played along the inland fisheries value chain in the Limpopo Province, to determine the contribution of inland fisheries to household income in the study area and to determine the contribution of inland fisheries to household food security in the study area. The study was conducted within three districts of the Limpopo Province namely, Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM), Mopani District Municipality (MDM) and Vhembe District Municipality (VDM). Multistage and proportional sampling procedures were used to select 400 participants. In the study, both fishing and non-fishing households were interviewed. The motive behind interviewing non-fishing households is that they are mostly consumers of inland fish. Therefore, snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to identify households who participate in inland fisheries. Snowball and the Convenient sampling technique were also used to identify the role players of inland fisheries. This was done to obtain information about the roles that households perform along the value chain of inland fisheries. Of the 400 households, about 193 are fishers who play either single or multiple roles within the value chain. A structured questionnaire was therefore used to collect data to achieve the objectives of the study. The collected data was captured on Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 27 for analysis. Several analytical tools from SPSS were employed to run the analysis. For instance, the descriptive statistics was used to identify and describe the socio-economic characteristics of households and their different roles and functions played along the inland fisheries value chain in the Limpopo Province. On the other hand, Pearson Chi-square and Pearson Correlation Moment were used to check the relationship between the socio economic characteristics of households and their functions along the inland fisheries value chain. To determine the contribution of inland fisheries to household income, the study calculated the share of both fishing and non-fishing income activities to the total household income of households who only participate in inland fisheries. This was derived by using income share. To check the level of income diversification for fishing households, the study utilised the Simpson Income Diversity index (SID). The Multiple Linear Regression model was used to analyse factors that influence the income of fishing households. To determine the contribution of inland fisheries to household income, two food security measures were used. This includes Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Data were analysed for both fishing and non-fishing households to check the food security differences. Binary Logistic Regression model was employed to analyse the determinants of rural households’ dietary diversity using HDDS which was grouped into Low dietary diversity and High dietary diversity. Furthermore, Multinomial Logistic Regression model was used to determine the effects of inland fisheries on household food security status. Based on the findings, the study concludes that males dominate inland fisheries activities over females. Fishing is practised for food by both males and females, but there is also an aspect of income generation. Furthermore, most fishers prefer to capture fish at state dams, with Tilapia being the most common species in all the three investigated districts. However, Carp, Bass and Catfish are also amongst the preferred fish species. Additionally, households are likely to consume fish from inland waters at least once a week. The findings also show that selling raw fish contributes more to the overall household income in all the three districts. On average, households in SDM and VDM have a medium level of income diversity, whereas households in MDM have a low level of income diversity. Furthermore, the marital status of the household head, access to credit, and average quantity of fish are among the factors influencing the income of fishing households, whereas level of education, distance to fishing area, and number of years fishing are some of the determinants of dietary diversity. Similarly, gender of the household head, total household income, and type of agricultural activity are some of the significant variables that influence the food security status households in the Limpopo Province. Additionally, the results show that there is a significant difference between the household food security of small-scale fishers, subsistence fishers, recreational fishers and non-fishing households. However, households in SDM and VDM are likely to be mildly food insecure where else households in MDM are likely to be severely food insecure. The study found that rural households in the study area play various roles within the inland fisheries value chain. These roles include input suppliers, fishers, traders, processors, and consumers. Additionally, there is exist a relationship between socio-economic characteristics of the households and their functions along the inland fisheries value chain. Lastly, the study concludes that the value chain of inland fisheries is short due to the lack of exports and formal markets in the study area. To this end, the study recommends that policy makers should recognise inland fisheries as another way of sustaining rural livelihoods translating to income and food security. Moreover, awareness of the inclusion of inland fish in household food and the available opportunities for rural households in the value chain should be given attention by the government and relevant institutions. However, sustainable fishing practices is the central issue that should be prioritised by households under the guidance of the government to maintain a long and lasting livelihoods. / Nationa Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis (Ph.D. Agricultural (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Regardless of the various measures implemented by the South African government to curb food insecurity, majority of rural households are still experiencing food insecurity at the household level. This could be because of the high unemployment rate that the rural households are experiencing, especially in the Limpopo Province. Despite rural household members exerting frantic efforts to acquire education, most of them still find it difficult to secure jobs, which results in them depending on social grants for a living. Still, social grant money alone is not enough to meet their entire families’ needs, including food acquisition. The aim of the study was to analyse food security looking at four dimensions, namely, food availability, access, utilisation, and stability among rural households of Capricorn and Mopani Districts in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Only two district municipalities in the Limpopo Province, namely, Mopani and Capricorn Districts, were chosen as areas of study. The two district municipalities were chosen because, previous studies and reviews reported that these municipalities are the most affected districts by food insecurity shocks in the Limpopo Province. The study used a cross-sectional survey, where a Multistage sampling procedure was employed. The villages were selected based on probability proportionate to size. The study considered a total of 346 rural households, comprising 173 rural households in each district municipality. A structured questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data from rural households in the study area. In addition, the collected data was captured using Excel 16. Thereafter, the data was exported to SPSS Version 27 for analysis. Furthermore, to profile the socio-economic characteristics of households, assess food consumption patterns and identify the strategies employed to enhance household food security, descriptive statistics was used. To determine the food security status of rural households in the study areas, the four dimensions of food security were analysed separately. For instance, food availability was analysed using descriptive statistics whereas food accessibility was analysed using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale [HFIAS]. The HFIAS was also used to identify the food security status while Household Dietary Diversity Score [HDDS] was used to measure food utilisation. To measure food stability, a Likert Scale [LS] and descriptive statistics were used. Multiple Linear Regression Models [MRM] were used to determine the factors that influenced rural households’ food security status. On the other hand, the Multinomial Logistic Regression Model [MLRM] was used to examine the determinants of food security among rural households of Capricorn and Mopani district municipalities. The descriptive results established that most rural households from both Mopani District Municipality [MDM] and Capricorn District Municipality [CDM] consume different food groups. In this regard, a minority of rural households are classified as dietary diverse whereas a majority of rural households are still characterised as less dietary diverse due to the limited consumption of different food groups. This reveals that these households range from less food secure to moderate food secure, as illustrated by the food security results. Moreover, the descriptive results also indicated that a majority of rural households in MDM are classified as severely food insecure and that food stability was the component contributing to these households being severely food insecure. As for CDM rural households, the results showed that a majority of these rural households were moderately food insecure with food availability and food stability being the contributing component at CDM. The Multiple linear Regression Model [MRM] results in MDM revealed that the age of the household head, remittances, and access to credit positively influenced food security status. On the other hand, the Multinomial Logistic Regression Model [MLRM] results in MDM revealed that the age of household head, household income greater than R1000, household income between R1099 to R1999, household income between R4000 to R4999, income from salary and access to credit, negatively influence food insecurity status. The Multiple Linear Regression Model confirmed that the male headed households, age of household head, wages, employment status and household income negatively influence food security status in CDM. On the contrary, MLRM results revealed that gender of household head, income from wages, income from salary, old age pension grant, child support grant, household income above R1000 and access to credit for borrowing money positively influenced the food security status of rural households in CDM. In light of this, the study recommends that health practitioners should educate rural households about healthy eating habits and that having a variety of nutritious food type may increase food security. The Department of Agriculture should advise rural households to participate primarily in subsistence farming and that they should focus their agriculture on crops and livestock. This will enable them to enjoy diverse and balanced diets. In addition, the government should empower rural households to participate in development programmes. This may assist households to improve their livelihoods and may also lead to diverse sources of income, which may enhance food security. Furthermore, the government can further assist rural households by providing production inputs (such as seeds/seedlings, fertilizers, and water for irrigation), which may promote food availability, utilisation and accessibility. / NRF-DAAD

The study focused primarily on the socio-economic benefit(s) of land reform beneficiaries with regard to food security. The study further investigated the socio-economic impact of selected land reform projects in the Limpopo Province which is also very critical for many parts of South Africa. Apart from the traditional output based evaluation of land reform projects, the study managed to identify key significant variables that could be the focus in reforming land reform projects in the future. The study also highlights variables that could contribute positively or negatively to the attainment of socio-economic deliverables of the objectives of land reform. The conclusive data for the study was obtained from 170 beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Beneficiaries have benefited from Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) and Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) sub-programmes of land reform in the area of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality within the Greater Sekhukhune District Local Municipality. The Multinomial Logic Model (MLM) was regarded as the best model for data analysis and was used to analyse the degree of contribution of socio-economic factors to food security among beneficiaries of LRAD and SLAG. Three categories were selected to determine the level of beneficiaries satisfaction with food security, namely; 1) None; 2) Moderate and 3) High. Dependent variables selected were 1) Number of beneficiaries, 2) Gender, 3) Farm size/ha, 4) Enterprise, 5) Land reform sub programme, 6) Proximity to the project, 7) Decision, 8) Knowledge, 9) Skills, 10) Training, 11) participation in Development organisation, 12) Sustaining production, and 13) Sustaining financial obligation. The study indicated that the participation of beneficiaries in decision making could contribute positively to the attainment of food security. A positive relationship with food security was determined and confirmed the study hypothesis. Knowledge was also found to have a significant relationship with the attainment of household food security. Knowledge was again found linked to training of beneficiaries which in general was inadequate. The study further revealed that almost all beneficiaries were failing to maintain production and financial obligations. Contrary to the hypothesis, enterprise was not found to be significant to the attainment of beneficiaries’ household food security. v The study concluded that land reform is still relevant to food security in the area. It was also concluded that there is a need to develop a comprehensive agricultural development plan to advance the objective of the land reform programme. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.Sc. (Agriculture)