Conference-Dialogue: Rethinking Agriculture – Current realities and dynamics of change
The conference-dialogue, organised by PLAAS (UWC) aims at Rethinking Agriculture in South Africa by creating a multi-stakeholder engagement in which to assess the dynamics driving the agricultural sector and the potential to harness these to address critical social issues. With persistently high and increasing rates of inequality, rural and urban unemployment, and a stagnant economy, the question of whether and how agriculture can contribute to solving these problems has never been so urgent. The three-day event will focus on:
- The constraints and opportunities in agriculture for creating rural employment,
- The complexity and heterogeneity of smallholder farming systems and the pressures on and future prospects for smallholder farmers,
- The dynamics driving continuities and change in large commercial agriculture, and whether these serve national priorities or can be disciplined to do so.
A systematic review of the literature that focuses on both the ‘informal economy’ and ‘food security’ in South Africa
Food is fundamental not only to well-being, but to our social and economic lives. Despite this, one of the biggest challenges facing many people in cities all over the world today is hunger. As cities rapidly urbanise, different pressures are placed on the food system which has resulted in the least nutritious food being the most affordable. The second seminar is entitled ‘A systematic review of the literature that focuses on both the ‘informal economy’ and ‘food security’ in South Africa’ and will be presented by Candice Kelly and Etai Even-Zahav.
Abstract
Despite the importance of the informal food economy in fulfilling the daily and weekly food needs of a large proportion of South Africa’s low-income population, it appears little research exists on the exact nature of the relationship between the informal food economy and food security. This paper performed the first qualitative systematic review of research from South Africa that addresses both these aspects. The methods used in the review are described in detail, to increase the readers’ ability to assess the reliability of subsequent findings and analysis. Findings confirmed the low level of research focus on the informal food economy (and food security), in particular the stages of the value chain beyond the farm gate and before the consumer. Food safety research is common, although applied narrowly and with mixed findings. The conceptualisation of nutrition research is encouragingly wide, encompassing both over- and under-nutrition, but does not seem to consider the broader urban informal context in which consumers are embedded. Lastly, the research approaches used are predominately quantitative, and the voices of those who survive within the informal food economy are largely absent.
Speaker bios
Candice Kelly‘s doctoral research focuses on people leading food system transitions in South Africa. She teaches into the MPhil at the Sustainability Institute, focusing on sustainable food systems.
Etai Even-Zahav is also part of the Food Systems team at the Sustainability Institute. He is particularly interested in the informal food economy.
International Food Fair: Celebrating Unity in Diversity
In 2013, the staff of the University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Social Development (ISD) and the School of Government (SoG) embarked on an African gastronomic venture to share experiences of cuisine, cultures and other social activities, and to highlight the diversity of the students and staff walking the halls of the SoG. Three years later, the initiative has grown and together with the DST- NRF CoE in Food Security, the ISD and SoG invite you to celebrate heritage month by Celebrating Unity in Diversity at the 3rd annual International Food Fair.
Space is limited, RSVP to Natalie Seymour on nseymour@uwc.ac.za or call 021 959 3864/28
World Nutrition Conference: Cape Town 2016
The conference is jointly hosted by the World Public Health Nutrition Association, the University of Western Cape, School of Public Health and DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security.
To register or submit abstracts, please visit the website here: http://www.wncapetown2016.com.
The Informal Economy’s Role in Feeding Cities – a Missing Link in Policy Debates?
SPEAKERS: Caroline Skinner and Gareth Haysom
DATE: 24 August 2016
TIME: 15:00 – 16:30
VENUE: Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, UCT Upper Campus
Food is fundamental not only to well-being, but to our social and economic lives. Despite this, one of the biggest challenges facing many people in cities all over the world today is hunger. As cities rapidly urbanise, different pressures are placed on the food system which has resulted in the least nutritious food being the most affordable. The first seminar is entitled ‘The Informal Economy’s Role in Feeding Cities – A Missing Link in Policy Debates?’ and will be presented by Caroline Skinner and Gareth Haysom.
Abstract
The paper starts by considering the genealogy of the term ‘informal sector’ and then reviews the international context – urbanisation trends and the latest estimates on the size and contribution of the informal economy. The former confirm Crush and Frayne’s contention of the likelihood of an urban future for the majority of Africans and latter suggest that informal work is a predominant source of non-agricultural employment on the most regions of the Global South. Attention is then turned to the South African informal economy, which although smaller than our developing country counterparts, is still a significant source of employment. The informal economy is thus playing a key role in household income – a key aspect of accessibility, particularly in urban areas. The paper then outlines the evidence on the informal economies role in food sourcing of poorer households. The paper critically assesses the current food security policy position in South Africa and the post-Apartheid policy response to the informal economy in general both nationally and in key urban centres. We trace a productionist and rural bias in the food security agenda and argue that the policy environment for informal operators is at best benign neglect and at worse actively destructive.
Speaker bios
Caroline Skinner is a Senior Researcher at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town and Urban Policies Research Director for the global action-research-policy network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). For over 15 years, Skinner’s work has interrogated the nature of the informal economy with a focus on informing advocacy processes and livelihood-centred policy and planning responses. She has published widely on the topic.
Dr Gareth Haysom holds a Ph.D in Environmental and Geographic Sciences from UCT. The focus of his Ph.D was on urban food system governance. Gareth is the southern cities project coordinator for the Hungry Cities Partnership project at the ACC. He also works on the Consuming Urban Poverty research project.
2016 World Congress of Food Science and Technology
The 2016 World Congress of Food Science and Technology will be held at the RDS in Dublin between 21st and 25th August 2016.
The theme of the congress is fittingly: Greening the Global Food Supply Chain through Innovation in Food Science and Technology.
Some of the major topics that will be explored during the Congress include:
- Innovation in Food Quality and Processing
- Food Supply Chain & Distribution Systems
- Future Foods
- Food Sustainability
- Societal Challenges in Nutrition & Health
- Global & Local Food Safety and Security
- Industry Hot Topics
More information available here
International Symposium on Food Studies: Transnational Conversations
Symposium Focus
Food is becoming increasingly central to national and global processes. Its centrality compels us to move beyond exploring consumption, survival, and food security to focus on the complex relationships between food and human experiences. Among these relationships, connections between the North and the South are central to the manifold social, cultural and political configurations of food in the present day. Some of the themes requiring perspectives that take into account scholarship about and based in both the North and the South include:
- how excessive consumption is linked to hunger;
- the role of Big Food in shaping transnational “taste”;
- the marketing of food items and food consumption in relation to lifestyle;
- globalized foodways within national and local cultural and social processes
- representations and memories of food and eating in relation to contemporary social, cultural and spiritual experiences.
Symposium Presentations
This symposium is aimed at generating conversations among academics, postgraduates, and artists interesting in developing and exploring humanities-oriented food studies. The symposium will focus on South African and Northern knowledge with the aim of generating inter-epistemic dialogues about and comparative analysis of knowledge production and cultural practices around food. Writers, academics, postgraduates, and artists are invited to present their research or creative work in relation to panels and themes in the draft programme available here.
Note: Academic presentations should take the form of 15-20 minute presentations on work-in-progress or existing work aimed at generating conversation; fully developed conference papers are not expected at this stage.
Organisers:
Professor Vasu Reddy, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria
Professor Desiree Lewis, Faculty of Arts, University of the Western Cape
Please send titles and short description of your presentation (4-5 lines) by 11 May 2016 to either of the email addresses listed below:
- Corena Garnas at vasu.reddy@up.ac.za
- Thembi Bongwana at foodpoliticsandcultures17@gmail.com
AIMS:
- Create a forum for sharing research analysis and methodologies focused on a growing research area
- Stimulate discussion and interdisciplinary research
- Enhance North-South conversations in the area of food studies
- Develop opportunities to build partnerships, collaborative relationships, and future work
- Create the foundations for future events and publications
- Showcase cultural events and exhibits that demonstrate artistic knowledge production about food and human experience.
FORMATS:
- Paper presentation
- Power point presentations
- Poster/exhibit
- Virtual posters
FACT Fortification Survey – Dissemination workshop 3 June 2016
Dissemination workshop on the findings of the FACT Fortification Survey completed in 2015. The objectives of the workshop are to:
- Provide a brief overview of the micronutrient malnutrition situation in the country
- Provide an overview of mandatory Fortification in South Africa
- Provide an overview of the FACT Survey Methodology followed in 2015
- Report on the findings of the FACT Survey by food vehicle in terms of coverage among target population, adherence to standards, consumption and contribution to requirements for:o Wheat flour
o Maize meal
o Bread
o Salt
- Create an opportunity for discussion and debate on the Policy, Program and Research Implications of FACT results and Actions needed.
Registration starts at 8:00 for 8:30. RSVP by Tuesday 31 May 2016 to Pumla Dlamini pdlamini@gainhealth.org / 082 414 4455 Rina Swart rswart@uwc.ac.za / 021-959 2309.
Improving Food Security and Safety for Sustainability in Africa
The University of Johannesburg’s Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, in the Faculty of Science, in collaboration with the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), host the first international conference on Food Security and Safety on 16–18 May 2016 at the University of Johannesburg.
The main conference theme is: Improving Food Security and Safety for Sustainability in Africa.
Elimination of Malnutrition: Is the Food System Up to the Task?
Venue: 1C, SoG Building, University of the Western Cape
The Centre of Excellence in Food Security and the Institute for Development Studies at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), invite you to a seminar titled: Elimination of Malnutrition: Is the Food System Up to the Task? presented by Professor Alice Pell.
Professor Pell is former director of Cornell University’s International Institute for Food and Agricultural Development (CIIFAD), a university-wide center involved in sustainable agricultural and rural development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She has served on international panels supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the African Academy of Science, the Gates Foundation, the U.S. Academy of Science and the MacArthur Foundation.
She is a STIAS fellow at Stellenbosch University studying the integration of agriculture and nutrition and is working on the Sustainability Initiative at UWC where she is an Extraordinary Professor.
| Date: | 18 April 2016 |
| Time: | 12h30 |
| Venue: | 1C, School of Government Building, UWC |
RSVP to Natalie Seymour on seymournatalie0@gmail.com or Priscilla Kippie on pkippie@uwc.ac.za or call: 021 959 3864/58.
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