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. 2017 Aug 22;12(8):e0182399.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182399. eCollection 2017.

A systematic review of sub-national food insecurity research in South Africa: Missed opportunities for policy insights

Alison Misselhorn  1 , Sheryl L Hendriks  2
Affiliations

A systematic review of sub-national food insecurity research in South Africa: Missed opportunities for policy insights

Alison Misselhorn et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Food insecurity is an intractable problem in South Africa. The country has a tradition of evidence-based decision making, grounded in the findings of national surveys. However, the rich insights from sub-national surveys remain a largely untapped resource for understandings of the contextual experience of food insecurity. A web-based search identified 169 sub-national food insecurity studies conducted in the post-apartheid period between 1994 and 2014. The systematic review found that the studies used 27 different measures of food insecurity, confounding the comparative analysis of food insecurity at this level. While social grants have brought a measure of poverty relief at household level, unaffordable diets were the root cause of food insecurity. The increasing consumption of cheaper, more available and preferred 'globalised' foods with high energy content and low nutritional value lead to overweight and obesity alongside child stunting. Unless a comparable set of indicators is used in such surveys, they are not able to provide comparable information on the scope and scale of the problem. Policy makers should be engaging with researchers to learn from these studies, while researchers need to share this wealth of sub-national study findings with government to strengthen food security planning, monitoring, and evaluation at all levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA flow diagram.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The four categories in the theoretical framework for the study.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Map indication location of the reviewed studies.
Fig 4
Fig 4. The range of study objectives.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Measures of food insecurity.
Fig 6
Fig 6. The causes of food insecurity cited in the 169 studies in the review.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Network diagram showing six themes in the review related to the role of food gardens in food security together with key points noted in the relevant studies.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Gender dynamics and food security codes and associated quotations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Hendriks SL. Food security in South Africa: Status quo and policy imperatives. Agrekon. 2014;53(2):1–24.
    1. Republic of South Africa. White Paper on Reconstruction and Development. 1994.
    1. South African National Department of Agriculture. Integrated Food Security Strategy. Pretoria2002.
    1. South African Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Food and Nutrition Security Policy. 2015.

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