Food Security Situation among South African Urban Agricultural Households: Evidence from Limpopo Province

摘要

The challenges posed by risk factors in the urban agricultural sector have been an issue of general concern among various stakeholders and the international communities. This concern is attributable to the negative impacts of food insecurity risk on urban agriculture and socio-economic development of South Africa. This study analyzed the food security situation among urban agricultural households of Limpopo Province using a well-structured questionnaire for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that male respondents were more in the study area with an average age of 46 years. Public tap water was the most used source in the study area with an average monthly income of R 2668.75 recorded. In addition, an average of R1284.75 is expended on food on monthly basis by the agricultural households. Finally, some implications for national food security were drawn from the overall result of the study. It was suggested among other things that interest-free credit should be made available to small scale farmers to enable them to access improved risk (such as health, drought etc.) management technologies. This will help them to contribute more meaningfully to national food security through enhanced productivity.