Household food security contextualised: A comparison of Ambros and Maramanzhi villages, South Africa

Smallholder agriculture plays a crucial role in achieving food security, particularly at the household level. However, fallow fields are progressively increasing in former homelands of South Africa. While substantial efforts have been devoted towards addressing food insecurity, access to arable land has not translated to sustainable crop production for smallholder farmers in former homelands of the country. This paper analyses household food security in the context of deagrarianization in two villages, Ambros (Eastern Cape) and Maramanzhi (Limpopo). Using a mixed-method approach, a total of 106 semi-structured questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews with household heads. Descriptive statistics were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 computer program. Meanwhile, qualitative data was coded and content analysis was conducted on NVivo 12 software. The key findings revealed that the primary household income in the study area was earned from social grants. Furthermore, home gardens, with an average size of 4100m2 in Ambros and 4400m2 in Maramanzhi village, played a crucial role in supporting household crop production. However, food insecurity threatened the sustainability of rural livelihoods because the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) indicator highlighted that a majority of 54% of households in Ambros and 69% in Maramanzhi were mildly food insecure. Food insecurity challenges varied between the two villages but these were mainly perpetuated by food shortages caused by insufficient monthly income and waning household crop production. Although acquiring food was rated as a very important reason for cultivating in both villages, deagrarianization eroded opportunities for increased crop production. Among other solutions, this study recommends that the government improve the delivery of basic services such as water to promote household crop production and the revitalization of fallow fields. These transformations can potentially enhance food security, income and employment opportunities for rural households, contributing to the sustainability of rural livelihoods.