Human Development and Food Sovereignty

A Step Closer to Achieving Food Security in South Africa's Rural Households

Bibliographic Data

ID2308657
AuthorsGrace Mbajiorgu (0000-0002-7414-8417, School of Law, University of Limpopo, South Africa)
Year2020
Volume55
Issue3
Pages330-350
Publication date2020-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Asian and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9096 • E-ISSN: 1745-2538
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0021909619875757
OpenAlexW2981165585
LanguageEN
References cited21

Food security strategies are determined by the prevailing realities within households and communities. Therefore, it is not surprising that in South Africa agricultural transformation is an important food security strategy. This article examines the role of human development and food sovereignty in fostering conditions that enable rural households to enhance their food security capabilities. Using an in-depth analysis of literature, national, regional and international instruments, this article takes its departure from the fact that subsistence agriculture is an effective strategy for improving household food needs when implemented within the broader human rights framework of human development. The results reveal that agriculture has the potential to increase household food security if appropriate agricultural technologies and productive resources such as land are made accessible to households. Further, for agriculture to attain optimal efficiency as a food security strategy, policies on agrarian transformation should be implemented within broader social development programmes

Agrarian society · Agriculture · Business · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Food security · Food sovereignty · Food systems · Geography · Subsistence agriculture · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Human Rights and Development · Legal Issues in South Africa