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The significance of African vegetables in ensuring food security for South Africa’s rural poor

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  • Tim Hart

Abstract

Technologies and services provided to resource-poor farmers need to be relevant and compatible with the context in which they operate. This paper examines the contribution of extension services to the food security of resource-poor farmers in a rural village in South Africa. It considers these in terms of the local context and the production of African vegetables in household food plots. A mixture of participatory, qualitative and quantitative research tools, including a household survey, is used to argue that local production practices contribute more to food security requirements than the extension services. This is because of the ability of African vegetables to grow relatively well in semi-arid areas where other exotic plants do not, their ability to provide at least two foodstuffs during their life cycle, and the ability of either the fruit or the leaves, or both, to be dried and stored for consumption in the winter months. These crops can make a significant contribution in terms of household food security, but a number of social and agroecological factors are constraining their production and placing their availability under threat. Despite this, the extension services remain focused on certain activities within vegetable garden projects, even when these are not meeting their proposed purpose—food security by means of cash-crop production. The paper concludes that social and agroecological constraints could be improved if the extension services were changed. This could include the use of context specific and low-cost technologies to ensure that these crops are able to increase their contribution to household food security for resource-poor farmers in semi-arid areas. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Hart, 2011. "The significance of African vegetables in ensuring food security for South Africa’s rural poor," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 321-333, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:28:y:2011:i:3:p:321-333
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-010-9256-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. E. Nederlof & Constant Dangbégnon, 2007. "Lessons for farmer-oriented research: Experiences from a West African soil fertility management project," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(3), pages 369-387, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gudrun B. Keding & Katja Kehlenbeck & Gina Kennedy & Stepha McMullin, 2017. "Fruit production and consumption: practices, preferences and attitudes of women in rural western Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(3), pages 453-469, June.
    2. Admire Isaac Tichafa Shayanowako & Oliver Morrissey & Alberto Tanzi & Maud Muchuweti & Guillermina M. Mendiondo & Sean Mayes & Albert T. Modi & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, 2021. "African Leafy Vegetables for Improved Human Nutrition and Food System Resilience in Southern Africa: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Alexis Habiyaremye & Leeja Korina, 2021. "Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Ecological Pest Control and Post-Harvest Rice Conservation Techniques: Sustainability Lessons from Baduy Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.

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