Impacts of Crop Production and Value Chains on Household Food Insecurity in Kwazulu-Natal: An Ordered Probit Analysis

Thobani Cele () and Maxwell Mudhara
Additional contact information
Thobani Cele: School of Agricultural, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 3201, South Africa
Maxwell Mudhara: School of Agricultural, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 3201, South Africa

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: Household food insecurity persists in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, despite the significant contribution of agriculture to the country’s economy. The role that the combination of crop production systems and value chains can play in improving household food security has yet to be addressed. This paper examines the combined effects of crop production systems and value chains on household food insecurity. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) transformed the correlated variables into three distinct domains, namely, modern agro-production practices, sustainable market integration, and traditional knowledge. An Ordered Probit Analysis was used to determine the factors that influence household food insecurity. Household food insecurity was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) using 300 randomly selected smallholder farmers. The results showed that sustainable market integration, traditional knowledge focus, education, and livestock ownership significantly and negatively impact a household’s food insecurity. A household’s size, food expenditure, and cash credit, as well as floods, significantly and positively affect its food insecurity. Policymakers and stakeholders should prioritise the integration of a sustainable market and the preservation of traditional knowledge, while reducing the food costs, in order to combat household food insecurity.

Keywords: household food security; crop production systems; value chains; ordered probit model; principal component analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/700/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/700/ (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:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:700-:d:1318437

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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