Nutrition-Sensitive Agricultural Development for Food Security in Africa: A Case Study of South Africa

Hettie Schonfeldt, Nicolette Hall, Beulah Pretorius and Hettie Carina Schonfeldt

A chapter in International Development from IntechOpen

Abstract: The paradox of persistent under-nutrition and food insecurity; as well as the increasing the incidence of over nutrition is particularly observed in middle -income countries experiencing rapid westernisation such as South Africa (SA). Values of household Food insecurity remains high, whereas overweight and obesity are increasing at a rapid rate. Agriculture and the food system play a key role in nutrition, health and food security. It provides for the primary sources of energy along with essential nutrients, while simultaneously being a source of income, creating jobs and earning foreign exchange. This case study presents the current nutrition sensitivity of the South-African agriculture and food systems (including governmental prioritization) and highlights the importance of this for future development towards improved food and nutrition Security and nutritional status. Since 2013, discussions on a single, comprehensive, food security and nutrition policy and implementation plan for South Africa have been in process with the aim to coordinate the improvement of both food security and all forms of malnutrition. Yet, the case study findings indicate an unfortunate lack of understanding about nutrient density and dietary diversity and the role which this could play in combating non-communicable diseases in addition to food insecurity and hunger.

Keywords: South Africa; food security; policies; programmes; Africa; nutrition sensitivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/53948 (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:ito:pchaps:109163

DOI: 10.5772/67110

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from IntechOpen
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Slobodan Momcilovic ().