Food and Nutrition Security: Household Food Plots/Gardens

1. Food and Nutrition Security: Household Food Plots/Gardens Tim Hart Centre for Poverty, Employment and Growth Rural Development and Agrarian Reform Workshop Parliament, Cape Town 26 May 2010

2. Elements of food and nutrition security • National food security is not equal to individual or household food security- depends on levels of food production; functioning of food markets; distribution systems; household access – income and own production; fortification & supplementation; knowledge of nutrition; and affordability of a nutritional basket of food. • Falling food production in SA: South Africa is nationally food secure in terms of staple cereal production but is a net-importer of many other foods (especially processed foods). • NAMC Food Cost Reviews of the last two years indicate that the country could become a net food importer in all foods partly due to climate change, soil degradation and expanded biofuel feedstock cultivation. • Income is main means of accessing food and thus the main determinant of household food security. • Food plots/gardens contribute to household food availability, access and nutrition – largely a supplementary coping strategy • Household food security is not simply a rural question – large proportion of hungry people live in urban areas – CT, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni

3. Food Insecurity -Hunger Where are the Hungry? Proportion per district • While the experience of hunger has decreased in recent years, 12% of South African children and 10% of adults still feel the desperation of hunger (GHS 2007) • Major improvement from 20% and 25% ( respectively, in 2002), largely explained by the expansion of social grants but declining since 2008 GHS – Food Crisis & IFC? • At the national level, one out of two households (52%) experienced hunger (NFCS 2005) • Another 33% of households are at risk of hunger, which means that food inflation and the loss of income might push them into hunger

4. Household food and nutrition security (1) • Among the poorest half of households (i.e. monthly household income is less than R2000), rural households spend about 15% less on food per capita than urban households. • This might be explained by own food production but there is no reliable evidence available to show this. • Rural households pay 10%-20% more for a basket of basic foodstuffs than urban ones (NAMC). • There is also the larger problem of under-nutrition in South Africa • South Africa is one of the top 20 countries with the highest burden of undernutrition • Under-nutrition results from a lack of access to nutritious diet (with sufficient energy, nutritional quality and safety) • At the national level, stunting (inadequate growth in height) affects 1 out of 5 children and 1 in 10 children are underweight – the most severe measures of under-nutrition • On average South African consumes less than 4 of 9 food groups • Food insecure households typically have lower dietary diversity, and this explains low nutrition intake • Nationally 45% of children had an inadequate zinc status (NFCS, 2005) • One out of four women nationally had poor vitamin A status • About a third of women and children iron deficient

5. Household food and nutrition security (2) • Ensuring food security for all South Africans is centred around ensuring access to sufficient nutritious food which involves • Eradicating hunger • Reducing under-nutrition, particularly in the most vulnerable populations – children and women, PLWHA, the poor and very poor • Ensuring availability and affordability of nutritious food • Options for improving food and nutrition security • Increasing employment • Increasing the rollout of Social Grants and other forms of social protection • Improving household food plot/garden production

6. Extent of Subsistence Farming Share of black households per district municipality who are involved in agriculture (LFS 2007) • Approximately 2.5 million households (4 million people) produce extra food for own consumption – primarily in the former homelands • Excluding farm-workers, 22% of all black households are involved in some kind of agricultural activity, mostly for own consumption • Women make up 61% of all those involved in farming but exceed men by 65% in the case of subsistence farming • Share of those who produce for an ‘extra source of food’ has increased at the expense of those who produced for a ‘main source of food’ • No available evidence about whether subsistence activities are practised in household food plots or fields • In Vhembe, Umkhanyakude, Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo between 57% and 72% of households practise some form of agriculture. In another 8 districts the share is between 43% and 56%.

7. Impact of Subsistence Farming • Comparison of figures suggests that • Household subsistence production is only moderately successful • Absence of household production might worsen experience of hunger • Significant transition in and out of subsistence production – risk, need, one of multiple livelihood strategies, ability, etc. • Potential for misallocation of support to food production activities as little is known about the drivers and barriers to household food production

8. Home Gardens and Nutrition (1) • International evidence indicates that for improved nutritional status home gardens more successful than other types of agricultural interventions as easier to adopt under existing conditions – poverty, environment, etc • Purpose is household consumption and therefore improves supply and dietary diversity • Two distinct nutritional benefits • Produced food is for own consumption - mainly vegetables, thereby increasing micronutrient intake • Permits expenditure of limited income on other more nutritious foods • Without household production food security of the ultra-poor would be significantly reduced

9. Home Gardens and Nutrition (2) • Production interventions should be coupled with nutritional education • Ndunakazi Project followed integrated production and nutrition education approach – intake of micronutrients improved • Traditional leafy vegetables widely consumed - a good source of various nutrients and tend to grow well in semi-arid areas • 1999 NFCS indicated that traditional leafy vegetables significantly contributed to calcium, iron and Vitamin A intakes of children under 9 • Small scale livestock production (poultry and pigs) can improve iron deficiency

10. Home Garden Technologies • Wide range of small-scale and appropriate technologies available – internationally and locally – many consider local climate and environmental conditions • Rain Water Harvesting – rainwater tanks, in field furrows, ridges, planting pits, mulching, cover crops, micro irrigation, grey water use – water management and erosion control • Soil conservation – intercropping, ash, composting, manuring, mulching, planting pits, crop rotation, fallows, conservation tillage • Seed saving and plant propagation • Agroecology/permaculture, keyhole and trench gardens, peace gardens, storey cropping etc • Crop protection using solutions of soap, ash, chillies, garlic and also by means of border cropping • Indigenous technologies – often invoke elements of the above or further adaptations • Often context specific, small scale and simple application - easy for households to scale out based on resources and demands • Numerous pilot studies on appropriate and small scale technologies but little roll out beyond projects and limited impact assessment of technologies

11. Support Services • Appropriate technologies often implemented and supported by CSO’s but lack of integration - some pilot projects by public sector (e.g DWAF) • Prevalence in public and private sector and some NGOs for transfer of conventional and spillover technologies – often applied in a top down fashion with little regard for local socioecoonmic and environmental context • Public sector focus on Community Gardens, Starter Packs - Provision of infrastructure and conventional inputs for groups appears to be main strategy • Infrastructure provision (Boreholes) – not scalable strategy due to initial, operating and maintenance costs – theft also a problem • Provided inputs are often not renewable (seed saving and storage a problem, access to conventional inputs expensive and suppliers scarce) – after initial season households might return to original food security status • Technologies often not applicable to home gardens where the circumstances are different to those at the project sites • Scale and impact is unclear • Limited M&E and no impact assessments – sustainability without continued support is questionable • Farmers often obtain information from other households and new crops from visitors to their area

12. Support Needs • Vary from area to area and amongst producers • Regular supply of water for crops/livestock • Soil conservation knowledge and strategies • Horticultural and livestock skills • Specific and regular support • Renewable inputs • Extension and Research personnel scarce – Botshabelo: 1 for 150 000; Northern Cape 20. • Knowledge of local situation and farming practises are often overlooked • Room for improvement in relations within and between public sector, private sector and civil society organisations • Build on what people know rather than pursue the unfamiliar

13. Recommendations (1) Some evidence illustrating that homestead food production makes a significant contribution to food security and incomes. Some of the issues that need to be addressed include: • Systematic research to find out what is happening, where, the types of technologies, institutional arrangements, impact and lessons emerging. To develop and implement a widespread coherent programme. • A widerange of CSOs are supporting homestead gardening. Develop a programme that can support and fund a wide range of structures, in order to operate at scale. • This may require a new cadre of extensionists or allocation of resources by Provincial Departments of Agriculture to outsource this work - current staff are not geared to support and are not numerous enough to provide this support. • The Departments of Agriculture should retain oversight, standardization of training and quality control;

14. Recommendations (2) • Develop the upscaling modalities for this. This is likely to include: • A community-based modus operandi - using CSOs to train and support community-level people (experienced growers and innovators) to advise others - such structures are already well established in the health sector. Emphasis on Female gardeners and enhancing local knowledge and innovations (IKS). Further skills support could be provided by ARC, Provincial Departments of Agriculture as well as CSOs; • Use the Community Work Programme or EPWP to fund stipends for these community-based workers; • Develop a standardized accredited training for such community-based workers (eg in vegetables, another in community-based animal health, another in fruit trees, another in small-stock production) which can help in career development; • Provide access to water - support for rainwater harvesting and use of grey water. This would be a good investment by government. Support to maintain soil fertility and avoid erosion is also required preferably using low external inputs; • Develop an upscaling or phased role out approach with an inception phase in a few urban centres and some rural areas (eg a total of 1 urban and 1 rural area per province), or selecting the worst districts and metros or those where the homestead producers are concentrated. Develop a phasing up process building on the elements above. • Develop a community of practice and mechanism for learning and sharing of experiences; • Establish a proper monitoring and evaluation system - including ex-post impact assessment for the programme which can feed in to the learning.

15. Thank You