Exploring the role of emerging commercial agriculture in promoting the resilience of food systems: rapid case study of Ngqushwa local municipality, Eastern Cape Province in South Africa

South Africa has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, with more than half of the population impacted by moderate to severe food insecurity (OdunitanWayas, Alaba & Lambert, 2021). Despite South Africa being food-secure at the national level, there are incidences of chronic food insecurity largely due to income distribution and structural inequalities at the sub0national levels. Large numbers of households have inadequate access to nutrient-rich, diverse foods (Chakona and Shackleton, 2017). According to StatsSA (2021), almost 23,6 per cent of South Africans in 2020 were affected by moderate to severe food insecurity, while almost 14,9% experienced severe food insecurity. In 2017 almost 21.3% of South African households had inadequate or severe inadequate access to food (StatsSA, 2017). Approximately 1.7 million households experienced hunger during the same year, with more than 60% of these households residing in emerging rural areas. Additionally, more than half a million (611,000) households with children aged five years or younger experienced hunger, constituting 13.1% of households with children aged five years or younger.