Welfare Implications of Home Gardens Among Rural Households: Evidence from Ingquza Hill Local Municipality, South Africa
Keywords:
Home gardens, Food security, Spearman's rho correlation, Ingquza Hill Local MunicipalityAbstract
Food insecurity is widely recognised as a global issue that requires immediate attention using multifaceted approaches. There is a generalised consensus about the positive role of home gardens in improving household income and food security. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support the above nexus worth exploring to enhance evidence of based programming. Therefore, this study used cross-sectional survey data from Ingquza Hill local municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa (n = 200) to estimate the correlation between participation in home gardening, household food security, and household income. Results revealed that income from home garden sales was the least source of income for most households in the study area, contributing an average of 10.4% to total household income. An insignificant negative correlation was confirmed between home gardens and household food insecurity access score, suggesting that home gardens fall short of addressing household food security. A positive linear significant correlation was also confirmed between home garden participation and household income. The study concludes that home gardens designed for cash crop production may have a better food security premise than those intended for home food consumption and the sale of surplus.
Downloads
References
ADEKUNLE, O., MONDE, N., AGHOLOR, I. & ODEYEMI, A.S., 2013. The role of home gardens in household food security in Eastern Cape: A case study of three villages in Nkonkobe Municipality. J. Agric. Sci., 6(1): 67–76.
ARYAL, J.P., MANCHANDA, N. & SONOBE, T., 2022. Expectations for household food security in the coming decades: A global scenario. In R. Bhat (ed.), Future foods: Global trends, opportunities, and sustainability challenges. USA: Elsevier, 107-131.
BHANDARI, S., SAYAMI, J.T., THAPA, P., SAYAMI, M., KANDEL, B.P. & BANJARA, M.R., 2016. Dietary intake patterns and nutritional status of women of reproductive age in Nepal: Findings from a health survey. Arch. Public. Health., 74(1): 1–11.
CASKIE, P., 2000. Back to basics: Household food production in Russia. J. Agric. Econ., 51: 196-209.
CHAUHAN, R., 2015. An investigation of the relationships among home gardens, dietary diversity, and the nutritional status of children aged 0 to 5 in Indian households. Unpublished Masters Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States of America.
DANIEL, W.W., 1990. Procedures that utilise data from two independent samples. Applied Nonparametric Statistic. 2nd ed. Boston, Massachusetts: PWS-Kent Publishing.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES (DAFF)., 2014. Directorate: Food Security, Strategic outlook, 1-10.
DU TOIT, D.C., RAMONYAI, M.D., LUBBE, P.A. & NTUSHELO, V., 2011. Food Security. Pretoria: South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
FANZO, J., REMANS, R. & TERMOTE, C., 2016. Smallholders, agro-biodiversity and mixed cropping and livestock systems. In B. Pritchard, R. Ortiz & M. Shekar (Eds.), the Handbook of Food and Nutrition Security. London: Routledge, 299-318.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)., 2015. Guidelines for measuring household and individual dietary diversity. Rome: FAO.
GALHENA, D.H., FREED, R. & MAREDIA, K.M., 2013. Home gardens: A promising approach to enhance household food security and well-being. Agric. Food. Secur., 2(1): 1-8.
GALHENA, D.H., MIKUNTHAN, G. & MAREDIA, K.M., 2012. Home gardens for enhancing food security in Sri Lanka. Farming Matters., 28(2): 12.
GEBREMEDHIN, S., BAYE, K., BEKELE, T., THARANEY, M., ASRAT, Y., ABEBE, Y. & RETA, N., 2017. Predictors of dietary diversity in children ages 6 to 23 mo in largely food-insecure area of South Wollo, Ethiopia. Nutrition., 33: 163–168.
HENDRIKS, S., 2014. Food security in South Africa: Status quo and policy imperative. Agrekon., 53(2): 1-24.
JOEL, T., MARY, K.B.T., JOSEPH, J.M. & ONIKIA, N.B., 2018. Factors that influence food security in Nicaragua and the role of home gardening in reducing food insecurity and improving income. Int. J. Food. Sci. Nutr., 6(5): 555697. doi: 10.19080/NFSIJ.2018.06.555697.
LOWE, W.A.M., SINNIAH, J., JEYAVANAN, K., SILVA, G.L.L.P. & PUSHPAKUMARA, D.K.N.G., 2021. Can homegardens assist in enhancing the domestic food security?: A study in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri lanka. Agrofor. Syst., 95(6): 1205-1216.
MAHLANGU, M. & GARUTSA, T. C., 2014. Application of indigenous knowledge systems in water conservation and management: The case of Khambashe, Eastern Cape South Africa. Acad. J. Interdiscip. Stud., 3(4): 151.
MALAHLELA, N.D., 2015. Socio-economic contribution of community food gardens to the livelihoods of rural households in Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality of Limpopo Province, Unpublished Masters thesis, University of Fort Hare, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
MALIWICHI, L.L., ONI, S.A. & SIFUMBA, L., 2010. An evaluation of small—scale agribusinesses and household income generating activities in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. African. J. Food. Agric. Nutr. Dev., 10(9): 3080–99.
MUZAWAZI, H.D., TERBLANCHÉ, S.E. & MADAKADZE, C., 2017. Community gardens as a strategy for coping with climate shocks in Bikita District, Masvingo, Zimbabwe. S Afr. Jnl. Agric. Ext., 45(1): 102–117.
NEELAMEGAM, R., SINDHU, PRATHIBA, N., THANGASUTHA, MUTHU, B., ANCY, E. S., RAMANI, M., THANGASUTHA, G., MOHAMMED, & IRSATH, J. 2017. Household economy and homegarden plants composition, diversity and utilisation in rural villages of Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India, 12-24.
PRITCHARD, B., VICOL, M., RAMMOHAN, A. & WELCH, E., 2019. Studying home gardens as if people mattered: Why don't food-insecure households in rural Myanmar cultivate home gardens? J. Peasant. Stud., 46(5): 1047-1067.
PUETT, C., SALPÉTEUR, C., LACROIX, E., ZIMUNYA, S.D., ISRAËL, A.D. & AÏT-AÏSSA, M., 2014. Cost-effectiveness of community vegetable gardens for people living with HIV in Zimbabwe. Cost Eff. Resour. Alloc., 12(1): 11.
REDDIAR, K.L. & REDDIAR, S.K., 2016. Family agriculture for bottom-up rural development: a case study of the indigenous Mayan population in the Mexican Peninsula. Future of Food. J. Food. Agric. Soc., 4(1): 29-39.
SCHAETZEL, T., ANTAL, M. & GUYON, A., 2013. Factors motivating home garden choices affecting dietary diversity in Bangladesh. Paper presented at IUNS 20th International Congress of Nutrition, 15-20 September, Granada, Spain.
SCHREINEMACHERS, P., PATALAGSA, M.A. & UDDIN, N., 2016. Impact and cost-effectiveness of women's training in home gardening and nutrition in Bangladesh. J. Dev. Eff., 8(4): 473-488.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)., 2014. General Household Survey. Pretoria.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)., (2017). Poverty report. [Viewed 20 November 2017]. Available from http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=1033
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)., 2008. Population estimates 2009. [Viewed 27 December 2017]. Available from www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022009.pdf.
STEYN, N., NEL, J., NANTEL, G., KENNEDY, G. & LABARADORIOS, D., 2005. Food variety and dietary diversity scores in children: are they good indicators of dietary adequacy? Public. Health. Nutr., 9(5): 644–650.
UZOKWE, U.N., GIWEZE, E.A. & OFUOKU, A.U., 2016. Contribution of home gardening to family food security in Delta North Agricultural Zone, Delta State, Nigeria. J. Agric. Ext. Rural Dev., 3(2): 26–33.
VAN LIER, L.E., 2017. Home Gardening and the Health and Well-Being of Adolescents. Health Promot. Pract., 18(1): 34–43.
VÁVRA, J., DANĚK, P. & JEHLIČKA, P., 2018. What is the contribution of food self-provisioning towards environmental sustainability? A case study of active gardeners. J. Clean. Prod., 185: 1015–1023.
VON GREBMER, K., RINGLER, C., ROSEGRANT, M.W., OLOFINBIYI, T., WIESMANN, D., FRITSCHEL, H., BADIANE, O., TORERO, M. & YOHANNES, Y., 2012. Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger: Ensuring sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses. Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Concern Worldwide: Bonn, Washington, DC, and Dublin.
WALSH, C.M. & VAN ROOYEN, F.C., 2015. Household food security and hunger in rural and urban communities in the Free State Province, South Africa. Ecol. Food. Nutr., 54(2): 118-137.
WEBB, P., 2013. Impact pathways from agricultural research to improved nutrition and health: Literature analysis and research priorities. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization and Geneva: World Health Organization.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Y. Nontu, A. Taruvinga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.png){kind=spacer}