Ayanda Mdluli
As food security continues to be one of the key issues in world agricultural discourse, locally, the growing exodus of rural people to the cities has raised other questions about the future and state of food security in the country.
What is the state of urban food security in South Africa? And where is the agricultural sector headed: up or down?
To contextualise the issues in the South African agricultural sector, one must understand the current situation in which the sector finds itself as well as what the future might hold, if things continue the way they are. AgriSA’s policy document on food security defines the concept as constant consumer access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. It divides food security into national food security and household food security.
National food security deals with sufficient food for a country’s consumer community and can be achieved by production or imports, the document says. “National food self-sufficiency is a situation where food security is ensured through locally produced food.”
Household security is described as sufficient food in the family context, as well as the social impact of food supply. It applies to both urban and rural households. AgriSA economist Dawie Maree believes despite the rising trend of people migrating to the cities putting pressure on local production, food security levels remain positive.
On its own, the agricultural sector contributes between 2.5 percent and 3 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). When linked with input and supplies, it contributes between 15 percent and 20 percent to GDP. Profits are under pressure, but it is not all doom and gloom. Agriculture is seen as a problem sector with declines in various components, like the dairy industry. But Maree said new entrants were arriving and there were still close to 40 000 commercial farmers.
The most significant decline is the sector’s contribution to GDP. In 1946, primary sectors, such as mining and agriculture, contributed 23 percent to GDP. Today they contribute 11 percent. Agriculture’s contribution fell from 3.5 percent in 2001 to 2.5 percent in 2010.
“If you look at it like that, we are a declining sector. But production still increased annually, we have surplus maize and animal production increased. So, in that sense, we may still be a growing industry.”
Another concern was the decline in farming units. In 1996, the country had about 60 000 commercial farmers. In 2007, that figure had dropped to 40 000. Maree said this decline could be attributed to some farmers going out of business or bigger commercial farmers buying out smaller ones.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in its quarterly economic overview in March that world grain consumption of 1 812 billion tons was forecast to outpace production by 9 billion tons in 2011/12.
Other reports say that by 2050, about 70 percent of the world’s estimated population of 9 billion people will live in urban areas and the growth in population will continue to outpace production increases.
Seen in the current context, household food security is a disturbing issue. Altogether 77 percent of households in the Southern African Development Community region experience severe food insecurity.
Jane Battersby, a lecturer in the department of environmental and geographical sciences at UCT, paints a bleak picture of the levels of food insecurity in urban areas.
She says urban cities’ poorer areas are experiencing greater levels of food insecurity. In Cape Town, the figure is close to 80 percent of households. In Johannesburg, the figure is 80 percent and in Msunduzi 87 percent.
In villages, like Klipplaat in the Eastern Cape, up to 100 percent of the people experience food insecurity, she says.
Battersby says criteria used to evaluate food security are based on questions put to the respondents, such as: “Are you worried you do not have enough food? Are you reducing meal sizes or not eating what you want?.”
In Cape Town, only 15 percent of households could be classified as having food security. In areas like Philippi and Khayelitsha, fewer than 10 percent of households are regarded as experiencing food security. Better-off areas like Ocean View have a 31 percent level of food security.
Battersby stresses that food insecurity is not just a rural problem, especially when evidence suggests that there is also a significant problem in the cities, where households have limited access to public transport and rely heavily on buying food from major supermarkets, which puts small traders out of business.
The problem could be curbed by ensuring effective planning of new areas around the cities. These plans should include opportunities for people to earn incomes in order to buy food.
A 2009 CSIR report said populations in metropolitan areas grew at 2.9 percent due to rural migration to cities. This figure was 1.7 percentage points higher than the birth rate.
With a partially declining agricultural sector and a steadily growing population, experts’ views do not paint a gloomy picture yet, but there is cause for concern.
While the declining agricultural sector fails to attract new entrants due to limiting policies and stakeholders’ lack of know-how, our cities keep growing and the demand for food continues to rise.
Clinging to the status of being a net exporter of maize, and showing a surplus, will not solve the problems of food insecurity.
The sector must grow, more farms and farmers must be established and agriculture must play a more meaningful role in transforming the South African economy for the greater good.