Thesis (Ph.D. (Agricultural Economics )) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Regardless of the strategies adopted globally and nationwide to fight food insecurity
within communities, particularly in the rural context, poverty becomes a major
constituent which translates to most rural households experiencing food insecurity
shocks. Given the high unemployment rate in South Africa which triggers several
household’s vulnerability to food insecurity, the country has diverse natural resources
which include indigenous plants such as Indigenous Leafy Vegetables (ILVs), which
can be used as food and for business purposes by its residents. Irrespective of the
diversity of ILVs in South Africa, there is a significant decline in the production and
consumption of ILVs particularly in rural areas where these vegetables are mostly
available. In addition, production and consumption of ILVs may not only address food
insecurity but these vegetables may benefit households through the income obtained
from their sales. The income generated from sales of ILVs may therefore assist
towards improving and sustaining rural livelihood needs.
Given this background information, the study aimed at assessing ILV production for
income generation and food security among rural households in the Eastern Cape
Province (ECP) of South Africa. The study was conducted within the three district
municipalities of the ECP which were selected because statistics report these districts
to be the most affected areas by poverty within the province. These districts are OR
Tambo District Municipality (ORTDM), Alfred Nzo District Municipality (ANDM) and
Joe Gqabi District Municipality (JGDM). Multistage and proportional random sampling
procedures were employed to select households which could participate in the study.
Thus, 407 households within these three (3) districts municipalities were used for the
purposes of the study. The study also included interviewing role players within the ILV
production value chain, thus a snowball sampling procedure was used to select role
players. Sixteen hawkers and three input suppliers were interviewed from the three
district municipalities. In addition, from the 407 households that were interviewed, 260
households from the three district municipalities reported to be producers of ILVs. A
structured questionnaire was therefore used to collect pertaining data allied in
achieving the aim of the study. The collected data was captured using Excel 2016, after data cleaning, it was then exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 for analysis. Numerous analytical models were used from SPSS 25. For instance, to identify and
describe socio-economic characteristics of households, to assess the most produced
ILVs from the study areas and to identify role players within the ILV production value
chain, descriptive statistics in a form of means, percentages, frequencies, and
standard deviation was used. To determine factors which influence production of ILVs,
a Binary Logistic Regression Model was used. A Multinomial Logistic Regression
model was used to determine factors which influence different uses of ILVs by
households and to determine factors influencing food security status among
households. A gross margin analysis was used to estimate viability from each ILV
produced, harvested and sold, while Household Food Insecurity Access Scale
(HFIAS) was used to measure food security status among households. Lastly, a
correlation matrix was also used to determine the relationship between the role players
and their functions among the ILV production value chain.
Based on the results, the study therefore concluded that, from the three district
municipalities used in the study, there are various ILVs growing naturally and
produced. The production of ILVs from these municipalities is habituated by socio economic characteristics of households, wherein households use ILVs for various
purposes which include these vegetables as source of food, medicine and livestock
feed. The use of ILVs among households is influenced by socio-economic
characteristics and seasonal availability of ILVs in ORTDM, while in ANDM and JGDM,
the use of ILVs by households is conditioned by socio-economic characteristics of
households, knowledge/ awareness related to nutrition and health benefits of ILVs and
seasonal production of ILVs. Furthermore, this research concludes that, ILVs have a
potential of diversifying diets and addressing food insecurity problems within rural
parts of the three districts. Given the positive gross margins from the three districts,
production and selling of ILVs has a potential to contribute to rural household income.
Lastly, the study concludes that, the ILV production value chain system lacks
governmental support in the form of institutional engagement since there is no
evidence of extension officer support from these three district municipalities
concerning ILVs production. To this end, the study recommends that, policy makers should further establish inclusion of ILVs in both farming and food systems. Also, government and related institutions which focus on sustainable rural development must intervene in promoting production of ILVs particularly within rural contexts since production of these
vegetables may alleviate poverty through job creation, addressing food insecurity and
income generation. Thus, a successful intervention of government and policy makers
in ILV production would have a potential of translating to sustainable rural livelihoods / National Research Foundation (NRF)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/3444 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Mayekiso, Anele |
| Contributors | Belete, A., Hlongwane, J. J., Oluwatayo, I. B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xv, 203 leaves |
| Relation |
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