Towards productive water use and household food security in South Africa

Abstract

Food security Despite national efforts, millions of South Africans still go to bed hungry every night. Research shows that around 53% of all the country’s households experience hunger, with 59% of households being food insecure. Increasingly development practitioners are recognising the importance of household food security and especially the impact of under-nourishment among household members (both children and adults) on wider society. The focus is shifting to the potential role of the homestead yard in food production for improvement of family nutrition. Improving national and household food security has been priority for the WRC for nearly 20 years. According to Drs Gerhard Backeberg and Andrew Sanewe of the WRC’s key strategic area focusing on water utilisation in agriculture, while around 9,5% of all households have access to agricultural land (predominantly small plots of less than a hectare), nearly 18% of households can potentially grow food in homestead backyard gardens in rural villages. Most of these households are headed by women.

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