In the face of a population boom, uncertain political and environmental contexts, increasing numbers of undernourished people, and changing diet habits, there are immense and dramatic challenges ahead for food systems in Africa over the foreseeable future, says Prof Julian May ahead of World Hunger Day on 28 May.
Food security is typically and administratively considered the exclusive concern of national and provincial government, but a plausible case can be made that municipalities should and can also play a role, says Professor Jaap de Visser of the UWC Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights; and the national Centre of Excellence in Food Security.
Coretta Jonah takes the right to food a step further by examining the right to nutrition. As she explains, the absence of hunger does not mean that there is adequate nutrition for the development of our children.
On Human Rights Day 2019, researchers affiliated to the Centre of Excellence in Food Security at the University of the Western Cape reflect on the right to food as a fundamental human right, linked to the right to health and the right to human dignity. Here, Funmilola Adeniyi, looks at the state of food security in South Africa’s tertiary institutions.
The corollary of farm consolidation is increasing job losses. Apart from job losses, the quality of agricultural jobs is deteriorating and far from decent, as a report commissioned by the Centre of Excellence in Food Security highlights.
Several research papers flowing from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security poke holes in some of the conventional wisdom that seems to inform all three levels of government policy regarding food security and informal traders.
Land reform in South Africa can be smart public policy
Mahmood Mamdani’s recent article about land reform in South Africa correctly states the importance of righting historical wrongs and creating a vibrant economy that works for its population. In contrast to what some writers have argued, including US President Donald Trump, the government of South Africa has not been seizing land from white farmers, nor is there a programme of genocide against the white farming community. But the article by Mamdani glosses over an important and complex issue, one that we have studied for the past 25 years.