The role of fruit trees in reducing food insecurity and improving nutrition security of rural households: A case study of the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

Despite calls to increase fruit consumption, food and nutrition security strategies often overlook the inclusion of fruit trees in the rural food systems. Hence, this study investigated the role of fruit trees in reducing food insecurity and improving nutrition security among rural households in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Descriptive statistics, household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), household food insecurity access prevalence (HFIAP), food consumption score (FSC), principal component analysis (PCA), and ordered logit model were used to analyze survey data from 305 households. The results showed that only 29.8% of the households were food secure, while the rest were either mildly (36.4%), moderately (27.9%), or severely (5.9%) food insecure. Moreover, 4.6% of the households consumed poor diets, 23.0% of the sampled households were at the borderline, and 72.5% consumed an acceptable diversity of food groups. The ordered logit model findings showed that growing fruit trees, consumption of wild fruits, household size, off-farm income, access to irrigation, access to training, livestock ownership, and psychological capital significantly influenced household food insecurity and nutrition security. The study recommends the implementation of awareness campaigns promoting the planting of fruit trees and the consumption of locally available wild fruits. There is a need for nutrition-related training programs and workshops to enhance awareness of the importance of growing and consuming fruits among rural households. The collective participation of the private sector, government, researchers, civil society organizations, policymakers, politicians, and farming rural households in building awareness is also recommended.