Dynamics of Amaranthus in Urban and Rural Value Chains in Communities of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Ruth N. Olusanya (), Unathi Kolanisi, Nomali Z. Ngobese and Chinsamy Mayashree
Additional contact information
Ruth N. Olusanya: Discipline of Food Security, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa
Unathi Kolanisi: Discipline of Food Security, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa
Nomali Z. Ngobese: Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
Chinsamy Mayashree: DST-NRF-Center, Indigenous Knowledge System, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 3629, South Africa

Resources, 2024, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa falls among the developing countries with poor standards of living contributing to the high prevalence of malnutrition. Interventions have been conducted, but malnutrition continues to linger, with devastating impacts on vulnerable groups. In Africa, 90% of its children cannot access the minimum balanced diet. Also, 60% of the people in this region do not access daily meals for dietary needs. Traditional vegetables like Amaranthus are identified to have great potential to combat malnutrition; however, Amaranthus is underutilized due to limited awareness of its potential and poor post-harvest practices along the value chain. This study evaluates the dynamics of Amaranthus along its value chain in the urban and rural communities of KwaZulu-Natal. South Africa. Mixed-design research and a purposive convenient random sampling approach were explored. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data for the survey, and this was strengthened by a series of five n = (30) face-to-face interviews with six key informants from urban and rural formal and informal markets. The findings revealed that eleven species of Amaranthus have been identified in South Africa such as Amaranthus spinosus varieties, including A. dubius , and A. cruentus, which are the most sold and consumed, mostly being sold by street vendors. Thus, poor perception and attitudes along with limited access to Amaranthus in some upper-class markets contribute to underutilization. Promoting Amaranthus at all levels of markets might create better awareness of its utilization.

Keywords: Amaranthus; A. spinosus; A. cruentus; formal market; informal market; nutrition security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/13/11/161/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/13/11/161/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:13:y:2024:i:11:p:161-:d:1521677

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().