Doctoral Degrees (Food Security)
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Item Exploring the youth-agriculture nexus: implications on household food security and livelihoods.(2023) Mukwedeya, Bright Takudzwa.; Mudhara, Maxwell.The youth-agriculture nexus in Africa is critical to food and nutrition security, employment and livelihoods at multiple scales through multiple pathways. The Zimbabwean government, like several other African governments enacted policies and interventions to harness this opportunity. Despite the government's efforts, getting youth attracted or interested in agriculture has been a challenge while success has been elusive. The information gaps characterising most of Africa's policy environment are contributing to the failure of most youth policies and interventions. Robust and compelling evidence on the intersection of youth and agriculture is lacking. It is against this background that the study explores the youth-agriculture nexus and its implications on household food security and livelihoods. The study's specific objectives include determining the factors affecting rural youth participation in agriculture; examining the factors influencing migration willingness and choice of destination; determining the factors affecting life satisfaction and lastly; examining the factors influencing livelihood choice and food security among youth. The study examines the youth-agriculture intersection from various disciplines, considering noncognitive, demographic, social and economic factors. This is because of the complex and multi-dimensional nature of the youth-agriculture nexus. A pre-tested structured questionnaire collected data from 200 youths across three districts of Mashonaland East Province in Zimbabwe. Various econometric techniques of discrete choice and descriptive statistics analysed the data. The rights to anonymity, informed consent, and confidentiality were upheld to make the study ethical. The descriptive statistics show that most of the youth were males, household heads, unemployed, married, looking for a job and have a secondary level of education. Also, the results show that most of the youth in the study were food insecure, dissatisfied with their lives and willing to engage in migration. The study sheds light on the importance of noncognitive factors (expectancy and subjective task value) in understanding the youth-agriculture nexus. The results reveal that expectancy, utility and intrinsic value and cost statistically significantly influences youth career decisions and life outcomes. It follows that youth with expectancy, intrinsic or utility value engage and spent more hours in agriculture. Further, youth with utility or intrinsic value have high life satisfaction compared to their counterparts without utility or intrinsic value. The study also reveals that traditional factors such as age, marital status, level of education, access to land, household size and employment status statistically significantly influence youth career decisions and life outcomes. The study concludes that both noncognitive and traditional factors are critical in understanding youth career decisions and life outcomes and combined can provide a holistic and better understanding of the youth-agriculture nexus. In line with the literature, the future of agriculture and food security in rural Zimbabwe is uncertain. The results reveal that most of the youth are leaving or losing interest in agriculture. In the study, over 70 percent of the youth expressed low interest in engaging in the sector in the coming years. Second, a relatively high number of youths were willing to migrate. The results show that 69 percent of the youth in the study were willing to engage in migration. Last, low life satisfaction was a general characteristic among the youth. Over 60 percent of the youth in the study expressed dissatisfaction with their lives. Further, the study reveals a shift in some youth narratives in agriculture. First, a significant number of youths in the study opted for non-agricultural livelihoods over agriculture. Second, international migration has accelerated in rural Zimbabwe. Thus, rural migration is no longer limited to internal migration as many youths opted to engage in international migration. With a shift in youth narratives and uncertainty in agriculture and food insecurity in rural Zimbabwe, the study recommends the integration of noncognitive factors in policy decisions. Further, the study suggests the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach to the design of youth policies and interventions in agriculture. Also, the study recommends the need to set up multi-stakeholder platforms in policy decisions, planning and investment. Last, policy priority should focus on closing the large disparities between urban and rural Zimbabwe in terms of social services such as education, credit and communication.Item Impact of crop productivity and market participation on rural households’ food and nutrition security status: the case of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, South Africa.(2022) Hlatshwayo, Simphiwe Innocentia.; Ngidi, Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas.; Modi, Albert Thembinkosi.; Temitope, Olumuyiwa Ojo.; Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe.The agricultural sector has proven to be the backbone of improving rural households’ food security and livelihoods in developing countries. However, the sector faces numerous challenges, such as insufficient access to technology, institutional difficulties, inappropriate policies, poor infrastructure, and unsuccessful links to the markets, making it difficult for smallholder farmers to participate in the formal market sector. Smallholder farmers in South Africa are still trapped in low-productivity traditional technologies that have a negative impact on output and livelihoods. Low agricultural productivity and lack of market access threaten the efforts of alleviating poverty and improving food security. The study's main objective is to analyse the impact of crop productivity and market participation on rural households’ food and nutrition. The specific objectives were to assess the determinants and intensity of market participation among smallholder farmers; estimate the impact of market participation on the food and nutrition security status of the smallholder farmers; analyse the factors affecting crop productivity among smallholder farmers, and evaluate the effect of crop productivity on household food and nutrition security status in the study area. The study used secondary data, which was collected from a total of 1520 respondents who were selected through stratified random sampling. The study focused on two provinces (Mpumalanga and Limpopo) in South Africa, based on the predominance of smallholder farmers. While assessing the determinants and intensity of market participation among smallholder farmers, the results of the DH estimation model show that the gender of the household head, family member working on the farm, wealth index, and agricultural assistance, age of household head and family member with HIV were statistically significant factors influencing market participation. The result from the second hurdle showed that the perceived intensity of market participation was influenced by marital status, educational level of the household head, wealth index, access to agricultural assistance, household size, household age, and family member with HIV. The study also analysed the effect of market participation on the food security of smallholder farmers. The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) results revealed that out of the total sample size, 85% of the households were food insecure while 15% were food secure. The gender of the household head, receiving social grants, wealth index, and having a family member with HIV significantly influenced farmers’ market participation. The results of the extended ordered probit regression model showed that household size, having a family member with HIV, agricultural assistance, educational level of household head, ownership of livestock, age of household head, gender of household head, and having access to social grants variables were statistically influencing the food insecurity situation of smallholder farmers. The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) showed that in the overall sampled population, 57% of smallholder farmers had the highest dietary diversity, followed by medium dietary diversity (25%), and the lowest dietary diversity was 18%. The t-test results showed that farmers who participated in the market enjoyed higher HDDS than those who did not participate in the market. The Food Consumption Score (FCS) showed that in the overall population, the acceptable FCS was 54%, followed by a borderline food consumption score of 30%, and the poor food consumption score was the least at 16%. The gender of the household head, receiving social grants, and the wealth index significantly influenced farmers’ market participation. The results from Poisson endogenous treatment effect model showed that the nutrition status of smallholder farmers was statistically influenced by agricultural assistance, access to market information, household size, ownership of livestock, access to social grants, wealth index, and involvement in crop production variables. The result from the ordered logistic regression model showed that household size had a negative and significant impact on the food consumption score of smallholder farmers. Gender of household head, irrigation type, social grant, and amount harvested had a positive and significant effect on the food consumption score of smallholder farmers. The results from the Tobit regression model showed crop productivity of smallholder farmers was significantly influenced by the gender of the household head, irrigation system, a family member with HIV, involvement in crop production, access to agricultural assistance, and wealth index of smallholder farmers variables. Lastly, the study determined the impact of crop productivity on household food and nutrition security status in the study areas. The results from the CMP model showed that ownership of livestock, harvest, disability in the family, household size, and gender statistically influenced the food (in)security of smallholder farmers. The results also showed that social grants, agricultural assistance, harvest, and household size significantly impacted the nutrition status of smallholder farmers. The results from this study support the findings of many previous studies conducted in developing countries and show that more intervention is still needed. It is recommended that government, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders work together to close the existing gaps between research, policies, programmes, and extension services directed to smallholder farmers. This will help to improve crop productivity and market participation of smallholder farmers, which will, in turn, enhance their food and nutrition security.Item The governance-institutions nexus in water management for climate change adaptation in smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe.(2021) Mwadzingeni, Liboster.; Mafongoya, Paramu L.; Mugandani, Raymond.Smallholder irrigation schemes (SISs) are crucial for improving food and income security in rural communities in a changing climate. However, despite huge investments and substantial development, most of the schemes have been performing below expectations. This study synthesizes governance-institutional nexus in water management from climate change adaptation in SISs, highlighting the linkage between scheme management and climate change. This study used qualitative and quantitative surveys to collect data from 317 scheme farmers in Exchange, Insukamini and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes of Midlands province, Zimbabwe. The overall objective of this study was to explore the governance-institutions nexus in water management for climate change adaptation in SISs. The specific objectives of the study were: (1) to assess livelihood vulnerability of households in SISs to climate change, (2) to assess the impacts of institutional and governance factors on the adaptive capacity of SISs, (3) to identify gendered perception on the prevalence and management of pests in SISs given climate variability and change, and (4) to assess the water footprint and nutrient content for the crops grown in the schemes. To achieve these objectives, different studies were conducted. In the first component of the study, the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and the Livelihood Vulnerability Index—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (LVI-IPCC) was used to compare vulnerability to climate change in the Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu SISs in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. Results show higher exposure and sensitivity to climate change in the Insukamini irrigation scheme despite the higher adaptive capacity. Both LVI and LVI-IPCC show that households in Insukamini irrigation scheme are more vulnerable to climate change than in Exchange and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes, attributed to water insecurity, poor social networks, and droughts. The study recommends that development and investment in Insukamini and Ruchanyu should prioritize improving social networks while Exchange should primarily focus on improving livelihood strategies. Vulnerability analysis using LVI-IPCC is crucial to better understand the vulnerability of smallholder irrigation schemes farmers to climate change. For instance, it can be used to explore the contribution of socio-economic, institutional and governance factors to the vulnerability of the SIS communities. This will contribute to improved water management for climate change adaptation. This chapter reveals factors that can be considered to increase the resilience SISs in a more variable climate. In the second component of the study, socio-demographic, governance and institutional factors that influence adaptive capacity in Exchange, Insukamini and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes were explored. Questionnaire-based interviews, group discussions and key informant interviews were used for data collection. Adaptive capacity calculated using the livelihood vulnerability model was used as the dependent variable. Ordinary least square regression was used to assess socio-demographic, institutional and governance factors influencing adaptive capacity in the smallholder irrigation schemes. We accept the hypothesis that stronger institutions positively influence the adaptive capacity of smallholder irrigation systems. The study reveals that adaptive capacity was significantly (P ≤ 5%) influenced by a margin of 0.026 for age squared, 0.073 for gender, 0.087 for education, 0.137 for household size, -0.248 for satisfaction with irrigation committee, 0.356 for participation in irrigation water scheduling, and -0.235 for participation formulation of rules. This chapter reveals factors that can be considered to adaptation to climate change in SISs. In the third component of the study, Mann-Whitney U test was employed to assess perception on the prevalence of pests between male and female farmers. Findings from this study depict that the females perceived a higher prevalence of cutworms (Agrotis Ipsilon) (P ≤ 0.01), red spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) (P ≤ 0.01), maize grain weevils (Sitophilus Zeamais) (P ≤ 0.01), and termites (Isoptera) (P ≤ 0.01) than males, while men perceive a higher prevalence of fall armyworms (Spodoptera Frugiperda) (P ≤ 0.01), bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera) (P ≤ 0.01) and whiteflies (Aleyrodidae ) (P ≤ 0.1) than females. Perception of the prevalence of pests was based on farmers' experience and shapes how they manage pests. Utilisation of gendered perception on pest in this chapter enables institutions and governance systems to consider gendered perception on climate change adaptation. Meanwhile, understanding water footprint is crucial to advise farmers to grow water use efficiency crops. Lastly, water footprint approach was used to assess the water metrics and nutrient-water matrix of food crops grown in three SISs in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. The nutritional matrix of food crops was calculated based on the study done in Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu Irrigation Schemes in Zimbabwe. Given that the average yield ranges from 1.04 t/ha for sugar beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) to 30.60 t/ha for cucumber (Cucumis Sativus), the water footprint ranges from 278.85 m3/t for cucumber to 4762.98m3/t for sugar beans. Maize (Zea Mays) and wheat (Triticum Aestivum) are energy and carbohydrates rich crops with lower water footprints. Sugar beans have a higher protein content and water footprint, okra have high zinc content and low water footprint, while wheat has higher iron content and low water footprints. Interventions should focus on improving water footprint and opt for crops with the higher nutrient value of key nutritional elements like protein, zinc, and iron to fight hidden hunger. Climate change adaptation in SISs needs understanding of water footprint and nutrient security of the scheme communities.Item A gendered analysis on the role and potential of goat production to improve income and food security in semi-arid areas of South Africa.(2020) Tsvuura, Susan Maira.; Mudhara, Maxwell.; Chimonyo, Michael.Small scale goat farming has a potential to contribute to livelihoods particularly in semi-arid areas where rainfall is erratic and crop farming is too risky. The broad objective of the study was to conduct a gendered analysis on the role and potential of goat production to improve income and food security in semi-arid areas of South Africa. The study used focus group discussions, key informant interviews and a questionnaire survey of 241 households for data collection. Descriptive statistics, general linear models, Chi-square tests and the Tobit regression model were used for data analyses. Male-headed households were mostly young, married and educated whilst female-headed households largely belonged to the old aged, were single or widowed and had little or no formal education. Male-household heads generally owned goats. In female-headed households, both the head and elder sons owned goats. In male-headed households, the head made decisions on goat marketing and on use of goat income whilst in female-headed households, both the head and elder sons made decisions (p<0.01). Male-headed households had larger goat flock sizes (mean 26.78 goats per household) than female-headed households (mean 15.59 goats per household) (p<0.05), lower goat mortality rates and achieved higher goat reproduction rates (p<0.05) as they followed better health control. Their goat annual net gains were higher than those of female-headed households (p<0.05). The motivations of male and female-headed households for keeping goats were different, with female-headed households rearing primarily for cultural ceremonies and males for sales. Goat sales were generally low, with mean of 2.1 for male-headed households and even lower for female-headed households with mean of 1.0 (p<0.05) in 12 months. The determinants of goat commercialization were gender of household head, location, education level of household head, occupation of household head, total household income, number of goats a household owns, goat marketing price, goat losses through death from diseases and theft, and whether a household receives remittances. The main constraints to goat commercialisation were poor condition of goats and mortality, high illiteracy rates of women, cultural settings biased against women, which discouraged them from owning and selling goats, shortage of transport to take goats to the market, poor confidence in the newly set up auction system of marketing and limited access to information. The reason for the low goat sales could be due to farmers’ failure to build up suitable flock sizes (due to losses through poor nutrition, diseases, predation, and theft), and this made it more unlikely to sell goats. Goat numbers were also an indicator of wealth. The Chi-square statistic showed a significant relationship between food security and household socio-economic parameters such as education level of household head (p<0.05), gender of household head (p<0.05) and the total household income (p<0.01). The study found that in gendered analysis, goat production does not contribute significantly to the improved income and food security in semi-arid areas of South Africa. Goats did not emerge as one of the main determinants of food security as their contribution to household income was limited. This is because goat flock numbers for most households did not grow significantly due to poor nutrition, diseases, predation, and theft. Where goat flock sizes were low, households limited goat sales to maintain their flock sizes and only sold goats when there were household emergencies such as funerals and ill-health. The main determinants of household food security were education levels, gender, saving money, location with access to irrigation to sustain gardens, sale of goats in the previous 12 months and the total household income. Female-headed households were less food secure than male-headed households, partly because they did not have reliable employment to provide adequate and nutritious food for their households. The food security situation was lower for households with lower education levels, and those who received less household income. Strengthening the role of women in household decision-making process is best done by increasing literacy levels among females so that they become empowered to achieve gender equality and their abilities within the society. Household commercially oriented goat production is a prerequisite for the commercialization of goats, particularly in female-headed households. For a successful goat production, female farmers need to regard goat farming as a source of income and to be convinced that their standard of living can improve through goat farming. Hence, there is need to improve the capacity of rural women and strengthen their resource base to enable them to play better roles in goat production. Participation of women in goat ownership, production, marketing, as well as decision-making on their income is critical in achieving food security. Empowering women by promoting rural education can contribute to improved food security. Increasing goat flock numbers enable farmers to make more sales, which can improve household welfare. Therefore, extension workers need to assist farmers to manage and utilize goats to their full potential. This may be done by assisting goat farmers to improve goat nutrition, health, and management; thereby increasing production efficiency of goats.Item Nutritional, sensory and health-promoting properties of provitamin A-biofortified maize stiff porridges and extruded snacks.(2015) Beswa, Daniso.; Siwela, Muthulisi.; Dlamini, Nomusa R.; Amonsou, Eric Oscar.; Kolanisi, Unathi.Provitamin A-biofortified maize has been developed to contribute to the alleviation of vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which is prevalent in the sub-Saharan African region where vitamin A- deficient white maize is a leading staple. The biofortified maize is new compared to white maize and as such its grain properties, including milling, nutritional composition (save provitamin A composition) and sensory characteristics, are barely known. There is a challenge in the adoption of the biofortified maize as a food crop due to its low consumer acceptance, which necessitates more consumer studies. Furthermore, there is a need to develop high value commercial food products using provitamin A-biofortified maize to promote its wide spread utilisation and thereby enhance the vitamin A status of the population. The milling and nutritional properties of grains of 34 varieties of provitamin A-biofortified maize were assessed relative to a white variety (control/reference). The milling properties of the biofortified varieties as indicated by the milling index (69.9-112.1) and hectolitre mass (65.8-82.9 kg/hl) were better compared to 93.5 and 78.5 kg/hl of the white variety, respectively. The ash content of one biofortified maize variety PVAH 48 was comparable to that of the white variety (1.02 g/100 g), whilst five biofortified varieties showed significantly high Fe content (25.67-70.33 mg/kg) compared to the white variety (20.67 mg/kg). The protein (9.8-12.8 g/100 g) and lysine (0.16-0.37 g/100 g) content of the biofortified varieties were significantly high compared to 10.5 g/100 g and 0.21 g/100 g of the white variety, respectively. The sensory quality of stiff porridges made with provitamin A maize varieties were evaluated using descriptive analysis and the 5-point facial hedonic test by a trained panel and an untrained consumer panel, respectively. The provitamin A maize porridges were described as having a cooked maize flavour and aroma, sticky, fine with low intensity of residual grain and slight bitter aftertaste. Provitamin A carotenoid retention in the porridges was determined. Provitamin A carotenoid retention in the porridges was considerably high (91-123%). Relative to white maize porridge, the biofortified porridges were fairly acceptable, although their acceptability seemed to be reduced by their stickiness and bitter aftertaste. Leaf powder of Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus), a vegetable widely consumed by rural communities in Southern Africa and reported to have good nutritional and health-promoting properties, was used to partly replace flours of four biofortified maize varieties at 0%, 1% and 3% (w/w) and extruded into snacks. The effects of Amaranth addition on the quality and health-promoting potential of the snacks was assessed, as well as the physical and sensory quality. The physical and sensory qualities of the extruded snacks, in terms of texture and expansion, tended to decrease with increasing Amaranth concentration. However, as Amaranth concentration was increased, the levels of many nutrients (including provitamin A carotenoids and protein) as well as health-promoting potential as indicated by phenolic content (31.0-98.7 mg of GAE/g dry weight) and antioxidant activity (114.3-186.7 μmol TE/g dry weight) also increased. The less acceptable sensory attributes observed in the biofortified maize should be attenuated through the manipulation of food product formulations. Other plant materials, such as Amaranth, can be used to enhance the nutritional and health-promoting properties of provitamin A-biofortified maize foods. Provitamin A-biofortified maize seems to have a potential for use in the alleviation of VAD and the general enhancement of food and nutrition security, as well as overall wellbeing.Item A synthesis of rural livelihood approaches in analysing household poverty, food security and resilience: A case study of Rushinga rural district in Zimbabwe.(2018) Muzah, Onismo.; Green, Jannette Maryann.Understanding rural livelihoods is an important goal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Zimbabwe, in particular eradicating poverty and food insecurity in every household. Even though livelihoods of the rural poor are susceptible to recurrent shocks, risks and stresses, fostering resilience on rural livelihood approaches is a significant remedy for achieving household well-being. However rural livelihood failure to mitigate widespread poverty and food insecurity have never been adequately examined or explained in a context that can encourage rural development policies. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of livelihood approaches, specifically endeavouring to answer the following questions: What livelihood factors determine rural poverty and its dimensions in the study area? What is the extent of household vulnerability to food insecurity? Is the degree of livelihood resilience and adaptation to attain food security sustainable? The main objective of the study was to use the concept of livelihoods as the springboard to analyse and measure household vulnerability to poverty and food insecurity as well as the level of rural resilience. The study focused on three distinct Wards in the Rushinga District, Zimbabwe. The multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to select fifteen villages and simple random sampling was used to select 300 households for the survey, 100 from each Ward and 20 from each village. The household level was used as the appropriate unit of analysis, because on aggregate, pooling of labour, consumption, resources, coping and survival strategies are relatively identified from a household perspective, as a common unit of analysis. Data analysis employed econometric models to compare livelihood outcomes from different socio-economic variables included in the study. Descriptive statistics such as chi-square, t-test, mean, percentages and frequencies were used to answer the objectives of the study and test the hypothesis. A theory of rural livelihood approaches was developed using conceptual frameworks compatible to the context of the study; the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF), micro-level food security framework and the Resilience Framework (RF). In other words, the frameworks strive to explain that positive household well-being is a result of successful livelihood approaches and negative well-being is the result of livelihood failure. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework is an appropriate checklist tool to understand how poverty is influenced by socio-environmental factors, and also important for eradication models. It describes the relationship between the environmental context and the capitals or assets available to the rural poor. In negotiating possible livelihood outcomes, the poor select from a range of available options within a particular context and locality, and the study shows that natural and social capital are easily available to the poor. The Food Security Conceptual Framework (FSCF), just like the SLA, identifies the reason some households become food secure and some food insecure. It is because livelihood activities, processes and outcomes differ from one household to the other. Household food security is a function of availability and access to adequate food, both dimensions hinge on resource endowments to acquire sufficient food. Furthermore, the stability of availability and access to food is considered an important dimension of food security as well as utilisation which has a bearing on nutritional security. Utilisation is considered a biological perspective of food security; as the ability of the human body to ingest and metabolise food. Because of the vulnerability context within livelihood approaches, which eventually result in poverty traps, the study shows that the poor find themselves food insecure. When compared to resourceful households who are food secure, they have the capacity to produce and procure adequate food. In other words, food insecurity in the District was a result of poverty, as the poor lack the means to pursue other livelihood options. The Resilience Framework improves the understanding of how the interaction of capacity, socio-economic and environmental factors affect rural livelihoods and household consumption welfare. The study revealed that highly exposed and sensitive livelihood systems eventually “collapse”, leading to vulnerability to food insecurity as compared other household’s livelihood systems which were highly adaptive, resulting in easy “bouncing back” to normal household’s functions. Thus, livelihood approaches, in complex rural context, can only be sustainable to warrant food security if strengthened by the resilience of socio-ecological structures. Quantitative estimation of the dimensions of poverty measured in monetary metrics and food insecurity measured in calorie intake per adult equivalence using the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indices revealed that 70% of households were poor, thus, living below absolute food poverty line, average poverty gap was 38% and severity 15%. The prevalence calls for relevant stakeholders like the government to scale up efforts to minimize household poverty. Since poverty in this study was measured in terms of expenditure on food, household’s lack of purchasing power means households could be food insecure. Generally, the prevalence of food insecurity was high in the District; 60% households were deemed food insecure, the depth of food shortage per adult equivalence was 24% and the inequality among the food insecure households themselves was 13%. Notably, the results indicated that poverty and food insecurity were gender skewed and geographically concentrated. There were more poor female headed-households than male-headed households, and concentration of household vulnerability to food poverty in Ward 12 signals geographical poverty. This all points to inequality when it comes to controlling and access to key productive resources to enhance their livelihoods. At the household level, food insecurity alleviation strategies and policies should aim to empower women and transform the livelihood choices and priorities of vulnerable groups in society. The study revealed a strong relationship between geographically defined factors and level of well-being. Spatial disparities in living standards were caused by the existence of geographical poverty traps which caused cycles of livelihood failure, for example, inequality in resource endowments, education and health services and a host of other social economic factors. To examine the determinants of poverty, the study utilized a binary logic model. The results of the econometric model revealed that rural poverty is linked to geographic location, dependency ratio, marital status, total monthly income per capita, asset endowment, access to support services and maize yield (statistically significant at 10% and below). The implication of this result is that not a single livelihood predicator can cause poverty. These variables interact at a scale beyond the control of households, causing households to fall into severe poverty, over a given point in time. A binary logit model was also used to estimate the determinants of household food security, daily calorie availability per adult equivalence was adopted as the dependent variable. The results showed that household food insecurity was linked to dependency ratio, per capita monthly income, the value of assets, total livestock units (TLU) and maize yield. In the rural context, there was a link between the predictors of poverty and food insecurity. Whenever poor households were confronted with either transitory or chronic food insecurity, they developed mild, moderate and more severe food deficit coping strategies. Generally, the households in the study used minimal coping strategies, the cause was attributed to the availability of external aid rationings which eased the severity. Even though the utility of natural resources, in particular, land-based activities, constituted an important source of livelihoods, as Zimbabwe is regarded an agricultural economy, the sector has become a poverty and food insecurity trap. At the same time, results exhibited rural livelihood transition from conventional activities. In the rural context, the transition is owed to uncertainty in agriculture, because of erratic rainfall, shortage of labour, high costs of inputs, land degradation, among other factors. Resilience is a developing research discipline in the wake of climate change, described in different ways and understood in complex dimensions depending on context. In the context of rural livelihoods, it is described as the capacity of the rural economy to simultaneously balance social, economic, ecosystem and cultural functions when confronted with predicted or unpredicted vulnerability. As such, rural livelihood resilience is the ability of the socio-ecological system to cope, adapt absorb and transform from change. This study strives to quantitatively measure resilience in the domain of food security. Food security is an important aspect that every household strives to achieve. High costs of farm inputs, market failure, and rising food costs were among notable shocks uncounted by households in the study. However, agricultural drought was the major livelihood threat to land-based activities, as nearly 94% of interviewed households who relied on own production for their food security recorded absolute crop failure. To measure household resilience against food insecurity, the study used two-stage factor analysis using the Principal Component Factor method. The model considers resilience against food insecurity as available household options over a given time. Among other options, adaptive capacity is the most important livelihood option, which is the ability of a system to adjust and take advantage of opportunities in order to offset risks and shocks. Access to natural resources was not significant enough to explain resilience against food insecurity, this is mainly attributed to degradation of the resources or inequitable access, for example to land. Validation of the mean resilience index indicates that livelihood diversification correlates with high resilience because of high adaptive capacity as compared to a single livelihood option. The mean resilience index also revealed that male-headed households improved adaptive capacity, given their better access to resources, whereas female-headed remained vulnerable because they were either involved in non-diversified livelihoods or they are constrained in accessing productive assets and low endowment in human capital. Thus, rural development policies should spur livelihood diversification as core resilience strategy against food shortages.Item Utilisation of Provitamin A biofortified maize in Ovambo chickens to improve food and nutrition security.(2016) Odunitan-Wayas, Feyisayo Adeola.; Chimonyo, Michael.; Kolanisi, Unathi.; Siwela, Muthulisi.The broad objective of the study was to determine the effect of provitamin A biofortified maize (PABM) inclusion, sex and age on growth performance, carcass traits, blood composition, meat quality, vitamin A content, nutritional value and consumers’ acceptability of Ovambo chickens. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential of delivering provitamin A in yellow-orange biofortified maize to vitamin A deficient -vulnerable population groups who prefer provitamin A-devoid white maize. This was achieved through feeding indigenous chickens on the PABM with the expectation that the chicken carcass would have increased concentrations of vitamin A. A total of 102 Ovambo chickens, indigenous to southern Africa, were reared and fed two dietary treatments; the control, white maize (WM) and a PABM-based diet for nine weeks. There was no significant effect of diet on the average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Male birds had higher (P<0.05) ADFI and ADG than the female birds. There was also an interaction of diet, age and sex on ADG and ADFI. Male birds fed on the PABM had higher (P<0.05) ADFI at 15 weeks and 21 weeks of age than the WM fed male birds. Male birds had higher (P<0.05) ADG than the female birds at 15- 17 weeks of age. Male birds fed on the PABM diet had a significantly higher ADG at 16 weeks of age. The PABM fed female birds had a higher ADG than the WM fed females at all weeks except 21 weeks of age and was significantly higher at 19 weeks of age. The PABM fed female birds had significantly lower FCR at 20 weeks than the WM fed female birds. The male birds had higher (P<0.05) FCR at 21 weeks than the female birds. The PABM diet had a significant effect on the dressed carcass (DC) and leg weight of the birds. Female birds had higher (P<0.05) relative breast and back weights, whilst the male birds had higher body weights (BW) and leg weights (P<0.05). The DC, leg (thigh and drumstick) and back relative weight of the birds significantly increased as the ages at slaughter increased. The PABM fed birds had a significantly higher relative weight of gizzard and liver than the WM fed birds (P<0.05). The female birds had higher gizzard and liver weights than the male birds (P<0.05). The gizzard and liver weights of the birds decreased with increasing age. The relative heart weight of the male birds increased with age and was higher than that of the female birds (P<0.05). The PABM diet increased the packed cell volume (PCV) of the birds and the leucocytes (WBC) of the PABM fed female birds were within the normal range but significantly higher than the WM fed female birds. The mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) of females fed on PABM was lower than that of the PABM fed male birds and the WM fed female birds. All the mean values of the haematological parameters were within the normal range regardless of the age, sex and diet of the birds. Age had an effect (P<0.05) on alanine transaminase (ALT), total protein (TP), GLOB, triglycerides (TRI) and uric acid (UA). The sex of the birds significantly influenced the TP, GLOB, ALB, CREAT and TRI concentrations. The interaction of diet and age had a significant influence on the ALP, ALT and GLOB concentrations. The PABM diet, sex and age of the birds or their interactions had no significant overall effect on the pH, drip loss (%), cooking loss (%) and shear force of meat (P>0.05). The meat and skin of PABM fed chickens had higher Hunter a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) and lower Hunter L* (lightness) values. The skin of the female birds had higher Hunter L* (lightness) values than that of the males (P<0.05). As the age of the birds increased, the skin of the WM fed females became lighter (Hunter L* values increased), whilst the intensity of the yellow colour of the skin of the PABM fed male birds increased (a* values increased) (P<0.05). The PABM improved the vitamin A concentration in the Ovambo breast meat. The WM fed chicken meat had an average of 40mcg/100g while the PABM diet increased the vitamin A concentration to 55mcg/100g. Sex and the interaction of diet and sex did not significantly affect the vitamin A concentration in the Ovambo meat. The PABM and sex had no significant effect on the moisture, crude protein and fat content of the meat. The ash content of the meat of the female birds was higher (P<0.05) than that of the male birds. The sex of the bird and diet had no effect on the mineral composition of the muscle. The interaction of sex and PABM diet impacted on the copper concentration of the Ovambo chicken meat. The sensory characteristics of the meat of the PABM and WM fed chickens were not significantly different. Age and gender of the consumers and their interactions had no significant effect on the acceptability of all the sensory attributes of the Ovambo chicken meat evaluated. The findings of this study concluded that indigenous chickens fed PABM can be a tool for curbing VAD and improving the meat quality of indigenous chickens in southern Africa regions.Item Rural households' perception of the effect of climate change on food security in uMzinyathi District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.(2015) Shisanya, Stephen Odede.; Mafongoya, Paramu L.The study examined in specific terms the interaction between household food security and rural farming communities’ perception of climate change in uMzinyathi District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A survey was conducted among 200 households randomly selected from five wards. Households were randomly selected from villages and only those household members at the age of at least 40 years and participating in agricultural activities were asked to volunteer to participate in the survey. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were carried out to obtain qualitative data. Data was then analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results show that communities’ perception of climate change matched the quantitative data of climate of the area. The study area is becoming hotter and drier. Over the period 1993 – 2010, average annual temperature had increased by 1.5oC. Rainfall generally decreased over the period 1981 - 2010 with the years 2004, 2007 and 2010 recording the least rainfall amounts of 368mm, 296mm and 319mm respectively below annual average rainfall of 784mm. Households observed increased frequency (73.0%) of droughts while incidences of floods had decreased over time by 52.0%. Households were evenly distributed across the five vulnerability categories with extreme categories of 18% households being very highly vulnerable and 20% being less vulnerable. The results confirmed that indeed households were experiencing climate change and that they are reacting to this change by adopting differing agricultural and non-agricultural practices. A large proportion (83%) of households anticipate that they will alter their livelihoods systems to respond to climate change with 59% of households indicating that government grants will play an important role in their adaptation to climate change. Households assessed (97%) were found to be severely food insecure while 3% were moderately food insecure. Households were worried about the negative impacts of climate change which included droughts, floods and soil erosion. Households who were found to be vulnerable to climate change recorded high levels of food insecurity. Perceptions of communities to climate change should be considered by policy makers in advancing strategies to mitigate impacts of climate change. Households are not homogenous and experience vulnerability to climate change differently, recommending that blanket interventions for communities should not be used to mitigate climate change but household specific interventions should be considered. Households will effectively adapt to a changing climate by governments putting in place mechanisms that will help finance the adaptation interventions. Capacity of households should be built through extension services so that 11 households are well prepared to effectively undertake appropriate adaptation methods. Rural farmers should be assisted with packages that can help them undertake effective adaptation mechanisms to climate change. Information will play a critical role in ensuring farmers can do what is within their means to address household food security in a changing climate.Item "Putting food on my table and clothes on my back" : street trading as a food and livelihood security coping strategy in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg.(2008) Abdulla-Merzouk, Quraishia.; Hendriks, Sheryl Lee.It is widely accepted that street trading is a survivalist activity that yields low profits. Few, if any, studies investigate how much profit is earned; intra-household allocation; and contribution of this income towards households needs. Therefore, a glaring omission in street trading literature is a critical evaluation of the contribution of street trading to household food and livelihood security. A major strength and original contribution of this study to the wider context is the analysis of street trading as a household food and livelihood security coping strategy. This study investigated whether street traders had sufficient food for household consumption; whether street trading reduced vulnerability to hunger; and determined how income from street trading was spent by households. Seven innovative participatory tools applied through a unique research design, were used to elicit business; household and demographic information. Five fruit and vegetable vendors; three clothing and cosmetics; two food; one telephone service; and one video vendor participated. Street traders were categorised into four food security groups according to increasing Coping Strategy Index scores. These were: two traders in a seemingly food secure group; five in the relatively food secure group; four in the relatively food insecure group; and one in the food insecure group. The use of innovative participatory research tools led to several findings. Types of goods sold did not determine profitability, but profitability determined household food security. As household income decreased, Coping Strategy Index scores increased. This finding implied sufficient access to food for household consumption was determined primarily by income levels ranging from R250 to R10 000 per month. Low income traders used severe coping strategies and were more food insecure than other traders. The middle income traders used intermediate coping strategies while the high income group used less severe strategies or did not apply food security coping strategies such as eating less preferred foods. This study found that child dependents and unemployed household members increased household food insecurity. Risk sharing networks among street traders played a key role in accessing cash for food and the sustainability of the micro-enterprises. Social grants reduced household food insecurity and provided a cash safety net for economic activity. Assets reduced hunger and provided crisis security. The study has shown that street trading supplemented low income levels for pensioners and low income earners. Street trading was a primary livelihood strategy for people who had no access to income from pensions or other/formal employment. The study concluded that income from street trading was vital to improve access to food for household consumption. Street traders who had established customers; and access to material and social assets consumed a greater variety of foods than street traders who were fairly new, lacked access to loans (through family and friends) and owned few or no material assets. All participating street traders began trading as a coping strategy to increase household cash. Their trading evolved into an adaptive or permanent livelihood strategy. Households used a mix of food related coping strategies and street trading was an adaptive strategy, rather than a coping strategy to access sufficient food for household consumption. Participating street traders were survivalists as street trading provided a daily net for subsistence. Although street trading income was barely sufficient to sustain households, it provided much needed income to pay school fees; rent; water and electricity. Street trading is therefore critical to household welfare for participating street traders; but infrastructure and resource constraints trapped street traders in survivalist enterprises and exacerbated their vulnerability to food and livelihood security. This study fills a gap in understanding of street trading behaviour in Raisethorpe. This is the first study to apply participatory research methods to comprehensively explore street trader coping strategies and the first study to attempt to link street trading, livelihood security and food security. It is recommended that municipalities adopt a developmental approach to street trading that includes trading sites with secure tenure and infrastructure such as shelter; tables; water and sanitation. Policy reform in terms of issuing trading permits and developing regulations for renting trading sites is imperative. Since this study found that profitability determined household food security, business advice and skills training should be provided for all street traders to promote business sustainability and profitability. A final recommendation is that street trading be recognised as a survivalist strategy that requires further investigation and policy measures to improve income and ensure food security for vulnerable groups.