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Linking smallholder agriculture and water to household food security and nutrition

Promoting household food security and reducing malnutrition rates of a growing population with the same amount of water
is a challenge facing South African nutritionists and agriculturalists alike. Apart from non-food related effects of agriculture
in general, the crop and livestock production practices of the South African smallholder farmer may have nutritional implications,
primarily when practised on residential land and resulting in home consumption. Yet, few studies have systematically
investigated the impact thereof. It appears that crop diversification, gender issues and nutrition education are among the
important factors that strengthen the link between agriculture and nutrition. Since food production is the most water-intensive
activity in society, nutritional water productivity (i.e. nutrition per volume water) of foods and the nutritional water footprint
of diets should be investigated in order to achieve a sustainable solution. This implies that both the demand for a diet consisting
predominantly of water-productive plant products, as well as the supply thereof, be addressed.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1000820
Date11 June 2007
CreatorsWenhold, FAM, Faber, M, Van Averbeke, W, Oelofse, A, Van Jaarsveld, P, Jansen van Rensburg, WS, Van Heereden, I, Slabbert, R
PublisherWater SA
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText
FormatPdf
RightsWater SA
RelationISI Science Citation Index

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