Browsing by Subject "Food Security"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Climate change adaptation measures in agriculture : a case of conservation agriculture for small-scale farmers in Kalomo District of Zambia
    (2015) Somanje, Albert Novas; Crespo , Olivier
    In most of the developing countries, small scale farmers (SSFs) are usually the primary agricultural producers of staple crop. Furthermore, they highly depend on rainfall for their rain-fed agricultural production. SSFs have limited capacity to adapt to extreme climate variability, thus rendering them to be among the most vulnerable to climate change. Some recent studies show that agricultural production and productivity is being negatively impacted by climate change and variability in most parts of Southern Africa. This is likely to continue for decades into the future, unless corrective or adaptation measures are implemented to reduce the impact on agriculture. Conservation Agriculture (CA) is one of the climate change and weather variability adaptation measures being promoted for SSFs in Kalomo District of Zambia. CA is not only being promoted to improve production and productivity for food security for the majority rural population, but also as an adaptation measure for sustainable agricultural production. The present study analysed the CA practices being promoted in Kalomo district of southern Zambia and the associated challenges in the management and implementation, as well as, how best these challenges can be addressed. Semi-structured interviews and literature review were used as methodologies of data collection for the study. The findings of the study indicate that among the three principles of CA, minimum tillage is mostly practiced compared to crop rotation and retention of crop residue. Within minimum tillage, ripping was found to be practiced on a larger scale compared to making basins. The major challenges include planning and human resource development, financial resource and policy constraints and cultural barriers to adoption of CA.
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    Dietary diversity and food security in South Africa: an application using NIDS Wave 1
    (2016) Thornton, Amy Julia; Leibbrandt, Murray; Ardington, Cally
    South Africa is food secure at the national level; however widespread food insecurity persists at the household level. To understand the dynamics of micro-level food insecurity this dissertation investigates how two different aspects of 'food access' - diet quality and diet quantity - affect two outcomes of 'food utilisation' - hunger and nutrition. Diet quantity is captured by food expenditure in Wave 1 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS). To capture diet quality I use dietary diversity, which is not directly available in NIDS. I build and test a food group dietary diversity score and a food variety dietary diversity score using NIDS Wave 1. Both dietary diversity indicators are found to usefully summarise information about food security in South Africa by using methods found in the dietary diversity literature. The dissertation then turns to testing whether the theoretical differences between diet quality and quantity play out empirically in the case of nutrition (adult BMI) and hunger (self-reported household hunger). The results reveal that food variety and food quantity are complementary in explaining the chance of household hunger, with food quantity having a slightly more important effect. The pathways to BMI differ by gender. Dietary diversity and food expenditure are substitutes in the case of male BMI; however, food variety and food expenditure are complementary to explaining female BMI when food expenditure enters into the model as a quadratic. Overall, food variety proved to be a stronger and more significant correlate of both outcomes than the food group dietary diversity score.
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    Small scale farmers utilization and perceptions of Bambara groundnut production in South Africa: a case study in a semi-arid region of Limpopo
    (2017) Cook, David; Pereira, Laura; Johnston, Peter
    World food security will be one of the greatest global challenges in the 21st century and utilisation of an increased range of food crops is generally regarded as being vital to meeting this challenge, including the use of legumes. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is an African indigenous legume that shows great potential to improve the food and economic security of small scale farmers living in semi-arid regions of South Africa. This study sought to investigate the potential for Bambara groundnut to enhance the food and economic security of small scale farmers in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A total of 43 Bambara groundnut producers were interviewed about Bambara groundnut production and their perceived enablers and barriers of utilizing Bambara groundnut. The study found that the majority of Bambara groundnut producers were old (>65 years of age), female small scale farmers who produced the crop for primarily household use. There were however a small number of farmers who produced Bambara groundnut on a larger scale, mostly to sell. Most farmers perceived that local demand was higher than supply and were able to obtain a high market value for Bambara groundnut. There appeared to be potential economic opportunities for many of the farmers to sell Bambara groundnut. The main reason why most farmers in this study did not sell Bambara groundnut was because the yields they obtained were too low. The main enablers perceived by farmers for Bambara groundnut production were a) The high nutritional value of Bambara groundnut; b) The good taste of the seeds; c) The nitrogen fixation properties of this legume and its ability to improve soil fertility; d) The legume intercrops well with maize; e) Bambara groundnuts high drought resistance; f) Cultural traditions associated with Bambara groundnut; and g) Use as animal feed. The main barriers were a) Low yielding characteristics of Bambara groundnut; b) Lack of available farmland; c) Lack of irrigation; d) Poor land management practices; e) Low soil fertility; and f) The crop's susceptibility to water logging. Overall the farmers were positive about Bambara groundnut production and could potentially benefit from advancements made in this sector of agriculture. The study concludes with recommendations to help improve small scale farmers' production of Bambara groundnut with the aim of improving their food and economic security.
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    Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective
    (2022) Vicedom, Stefan Klaus; Wynberg, Rachel
    Due to their high level of complexity and transnational character, environmental and climate change issues increasingly require specialised knowledge and international development strategies. One institution that regularly provides decision-makers with such scientific and international policy expertise is the think tank. With their particular competencies, environmentally-related and climate change related think tanks have become key actors in modern environmental governance systems. Since many African countries have a high proportion of smallholder farmers who experience daily food insecurity and poverty, the transformation of African agriculture has been prioritised in the agenda of many think tanks, international development initiatives, and aid agencies. This applies equally to the Nairobi-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which was initiated by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006 and is often labelled as an agricultural think tank. Through its activities, AGRA aims to improve food security in African countries by establishing industrial agricultural practices which were integral elements of earlier Green Revolutions. Accordingly, AGRA widely promotes the application of hybrid seeds, synthetic fertilisers, and other technological solutions to enhance agricultural productivity. However, AGRA and its key partners have increasingly been criticised by experts who claim that AGRA's agenda does not sufficiently address the needs of African smallholder farmers and that it mainly represents political and corporate interests from the Global North. Against this background, this study explored the role of AGRA within the current agricultural transformation in Africa. To this end, the research project analysed AGRA's organisational form, the key elements of its agenda and its network of partners from a think tank perspective. The study further examined how and on what levels AGRA and its partners shape environmental governance processes inside and outside of Africa. Multiple methods were combined to enhance the validity of the findings. These included a desktop study, a network analysis, a discourse-related case study, and key informant interviews. The findings reveal that AGRA is a hybrid organisation that combines key features of a think tank with strong operational dimensions. The results also demonstrated that due to its unidimensional agenda, AGRA fails to stimulate sustainable agricultural transformation in Africa. AGRA's partnerships are characterised by a Global North bias on the decision- making level, with the alliance displaying typical features of an ideological advocacy network. The shaping of governance processes by AGRA and its partners was observed at both national and intergovernmental levels.