scholarly journals Harnessing Public Food Procurement for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in South Africa through the National School Nutrition Programme: A Qualitative Assessment of Contributions and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13838
Author(s):  
Clement Mensah ◽  
Abdulrazak Karriem
Keyword(s):  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
National School ◽  
Fresh Vegetables ◽  
Local Sourcing ◽  
Nutrition Programme ◽  
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods

This paper examines how public food procurements contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods through local sourcing of school food, what has become known as ‘home-grown’ school feeding. Specifically, it draws on in-depth interviews to explore the contributions and challenges of using local farmers as suppliers for South Africa’s National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) using the case of the Eastern Cape Province, the country’s poorest province. The study found that participating schools in rural areas benefit from local sourcing by way of using fresh vegetables in preparing meals thanks to the utilisation of a decentralised catering model in the Eastern Cape Province. Consequently, there is evidence of farmers participating in NSNP food market earning additional income and growing more vegetables on more land in some cases. However, even though the Eastern Cape Province uses a decentralised procurement model, it has no clear-cut programme to optimise the benefits of local sourcing for NSNP. It only ‘encourages’ schools to buy vegetables grown locally. This calls for pragmatism on the side of government to, through creative procurement and initiatives such as the Agri-Parks, use NSNP as a tool for making the South African food system more inclusive, drive down rural poverty and realise sustainable rural development.

scholarly journals Agroforestry Practices in Livelihood Improvement in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8477
Author(s):  
Mulatu Fekadu Zerihun
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Agroforestry Practices

Agroforestry plays a significant role in increasing agricultural productivity. In South Africa, there is a pressing need for promoting smallholder agriculture to promote sustainable rural livelihoods, to ensure food security, to lower inflation in food prices, and address rampant rural unemployment in the country. The agricultural economy is characterised by a monopoly structure where almost every single staple in South Africa is already produced by large manufacturers that can produce it at better quality and lower cost than the average smallholder enterprise or cooperative. Such a monopoly structure fundamentally undermines the development of local markets, where local small-scale producers sell to their local community. The novelty of this study is addressing the research gap that conventional rural livelihood analyses often neglect, i.e., the role of environmental products in general, and forest and agroforestry products. Using a log linear regression model with cross-sectional data collected from a sample of 300 households, this study explores the likely impact of agroforestry practices in promoting the livelihood of rural communities in the study areas. Results obtained from multiple linear regression analysis showed that average household income increased as a function of utilization of agroforestry practices. Agroforestry contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods in South African provinces where the predominant means of livelihoods is rural subsistence farming and agriculture. Since valuation of agroforestry products and services are technically difficult, farmers often underestimate the contribution of agroforestry to the household’s livelihood income. These findings have policy implications in promoting food security in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and beyond.

scholarly journals Salmonella food-poisoning outbreak linked to the National School Nutrition Programme, North West province, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thejane W. Motladiile ◽  
John M. Tumbo ◽  
Adrien Malumba ◽  
Bolaji Adeoti ◽  
Nozizwe J. Masekwane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
North West ◽  
National School ◽  
North West Province ◽  
Nutrition Programme

scholarly journals Development of an energy-dense biscuit suitable for primary school learners for the South African National School Nutrition Programme

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 18611-18628
Author(s):  
Saffia Hassanally ◽  
◽  
Ashika Naicker ◽  
Evonne Singh
Keyword(s):  
Shelf Life ◽  
Peanut Butter ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Empty Stomach ◽  
National School ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
School Day ◽  
Main Meal ◽  
Nutrition Programme

South Africa has a well established National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). Despite rescheduling the mealtime to two hours after the start of the school day to accommodate learners who come to school on an empty stomach, a gap still exists as many children start their learning day with low energy and concentration levels. A cost-effective, energy-dense snack served at the start of the school day can be a solution to sustain learners until the main meal is served. Cross-sectional surveys were used to determine the snack preferences of children and the product development process was used to develop a suitable snack. An energy-dense peanut butter biscuit was developed based on those surveys as well as a scoping review of previous snack studies. The energy-dense developed product provided 1388kJ (61.0%) of energy from fat, 688kJ (30.2%) of energy from carbohydrates and 201kJ (8.8%) of energy from protein per 100g. The biscuit conformed to microbial testing standards. Shelf-life analysis projected a shelf-life of five weeks fresh and five months in food grade packaging. Sensory results showed that there was no significant difference in sensory scores across gender (p=0.691) and age (p=0.706). More of the learners (n=56, 69.1%) found the biscuit to be ‘Super good’ than the other ratings (p<.0005). When compared with similar biscuit products currently on the market, it was found that the developed biscuit was the most reasonably priced. The developed biscuit has the potential to serve as a solution to hidden hunger for children that come to school on an empty stomach. This versatile snack solution has potential for continuity of use even during periods of national crisis as with COVID-19, when learners’ nutritional needs may be most vulnerable.

scholarly journals GARDEN OWNERSHIP AS A SOLUTION TO FOOD INSECURITY IN URBAN AREAS OF SOUTH AFRICA: CASE OF FOOD GARDENS IN ALICE TOWN, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bongiwe Mcata
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Home Garden ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Fresh Vegetables ◽  
Food Gardens

Programs like Siyazondla Homestead Gardens, Siyakhula and Massive Food Production Program were introduced by the provincial government of the Eastern Cape province with the aim of improving household food production, nutrition and food security. However, full ownership of food gardens by households has been a challenge. Thus, this paper investigates the factors influencing the ownership of home gardens by Alice Town households. Households in Alice Town, Eastern Cape province were purposively selected for data collection, and a structured questionnaire was employed. A binary logistic regression model was adopted to determine the factors that influence food gardens ownership among the sampled households. Results show that three variables that influenced food gardens ownership were location, land access and education level. These variables had a significance level of 5%. The paper concludes that having access to food gardens by city dwellers can help improve their food security status. However, owning a garden is a challenge due to the variables highlighted. Thus, it is important to promote associations in urban areas and provide training and workshops that can improve the productivity of home garden owners. This is how access to better nutrition and safe, rich and fresh vegetables can be achieved.

scholarly journals Managing the National School Nutrition Programme in under-resourced schools in Limpopo – practice, successes and challenges

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Eberlein
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
School Level ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
National School ◽  
Primary Finding ◽  
Management Functions ◽  
Nutrition Programme

This study investigates the manner in which the implementation of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is managed by the principals in under-resourced primary schools in the Waterberg district of Limpopo province, and as such forms part of a larger joint UP and NENU study of the state of the principalship in both urban and rural settings in the two countries. Data for this qualitative study was collected within the framework of the four management functions described by Van Deventer and Kruger: planning, organising, leading and directing, as well as controlling and evaluating, by interviewing and observation. The study’s primary finding is that, although principals are aware of the guidelines and practices for the implementation of the NSNP, prescribed by the Department of Basic Education, they rely almost entirely on other role player at school level to manage the programme, without any day-to-day involvement in the process or any recognition of their own roles and responsibilities in this regard.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Vegetables Sold in the Amathole District, Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

2008 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 816-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. O. ABONG'O ◽  
M. N. B. MOMBA ◽  
J. N. MWAMBAKANA
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Antimicrobial Susceptibility ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Escherichia Coli O157 ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Fresh Vegetables

Fresh vegetables have been implicated in outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in most parts of the world. Microbiological quality of vegetables used as recipes for salads is very crucial. Residents of the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa consume salads frequently, although the microbial quality of recipe vegetables is questionable. The present study investigated the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli O157:H7 isolated from selected vegetables sold within the Amathole District. One hundred eighty samples of the vegetables were analyzed. Strains of E. coli O157:H7 were isolated by enrichment culture and by immunomagnetic separation and identified by conventional and molecular techniques. In three settlements in this district, the mean counts of presumptive E. coli O157 for the vegetables ranged between 9 × 103 and 1.6 × 106 CFU/g for Fort Beaufort, 1.6 × 103 and 1.6 × 105 CFU/g for Mdantsane, and 1.3 × 103 and 4.1 × 104 CFU/g for Alice. Four (10.3%) of 39 vegetable samples were confirmed to carry E. coli O157:H7. Four representative E. coli O157:H7 isolates from these vegetables were susceptible to at least one of the eight antimicrobial agents tested against them. Even though the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 was low and those isolated were susceptible to most of the antimicrobials, there remains a need for E. coli O157:H7 surveillance in vegetables used in salad recipes in urban and rural areas of South Africa.

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