Economic Performanceand DevelopmentEconomic Performanceand Development

Diversity of food access among low-Diversity of food access among low-income households in South Africa- income households in South Africa- comparative evidence from householdcomparative evidence from household

Diversity of food access among low-Diversity of food access among low-income households in South Africa- income households in South Africa- comparative evidence from householdcomparative evidence from household

Peter JacobsHSRC- EPDDST-HSRC Science SeminarPolicy Relevant Indicators to Monitor Household Food Security Status in SA 12 November 2013

Food & Nutrition Status of SA Households- debunking old myths

Food & Nutrition Status of SA Households- debunking old myths

• Reduce and restrict SA food insecurity problem to aggregate (economy-wide) food production

• Other dimensions of food security (such a food access) receive almost no attention despite ‘overwhelming dependency on access to food through markets’

• Food insecurity is a ‘rural problem’- downplay or ignore differential livelihood capabilities (small-farm households, farm workers, urban/rural, informal settlements, etc…)

• SA Food & Nutrition Security debate far more nuanced - major food system transition food system transition and shifts…

Where Households Purchase Foods, Where Households Purchase Foods, Rural versus Urban, IES 2010/11 (%)Rural versus Urban, IES 2010/11 (%)Where Households Purchase Foods, Where Households Purchase Foods, Rural versus Urban, IES 2010/11 (%)Rural versus Urban, IES 2010/11 (%)

Retail Outlet

Fresh Fruits Fresh Vegetables Meat

Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Chain Stores /Supermarkets 59.33 26.2 29.64 9.91 56.37 33.12

Other Retailers 16.26 52.28 43.2 43.03 36.72 47.46

Street Traders 9.3 12.67 9.79 14.09 0.75 1.35

Other 15.11 8.85 17.38 32.97 6.16 18.06

Three waves of food price inflation- Three waves of food price inflation- insufficient access to food?insufficient access to food?

Three waves of food price inflation- Three waves of food price inflation- insufficient access to food?insufficient access to food?

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Inflation trends based on PPI and CPI, Jan 2000- June 2012

PPI-General

PPI-Agric

PPI-Agro-Food

CPI-General

CPI-Food

Food price inflation, affordability & household food & nutrition status

Food price inflation, affordability & household food & nutrition status

• Limited high-level picture based on PPI and CPI trends; unpack drivers of food costs/affordability across agro-food value chains• Wave 1: Jan 2001-Jan 2003• Wave 2: Sep 2006-Jan2009• Wave 3: Aug 2011-May 2012

• Investigate dominant features of food and nutrition security crises; develop a typology:• how vulnerable and at risk households respond (coping strategies?);

• how government, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders counter the adverse impacts of crises- immediate and longer-term responses / interventions?

Some puzzles emerging from food price crises?

Some puzzles emerging from food price crises?

• Are households switching to more affordable food options?

• Lower-cost but healthy (awareness question?)• Cheap with poor nutrition (spending decision?)

• Objective economic and subjective decisions intertwined- tricky to disentangle…

Substantial changes in household food security questions/info in GHS, 2007 versus 2010/2012Substantial changes in household food security questions/info in GHS, 2007 versus 2010/2012

GHS 2007 GHS 2010Food security status Hunger scale (Adults/children) Hunger scale (adults/children);

Food access; Variety foods consumed;Coping strategies

Household livelihoods & demography

Farm workers; Small-farm households;Household size

Farm workers; Small-farm households; Household size

Living standards- expenditure

Total spending (quartiles); Food spending; Social grants

Total spending (quartiles); Social grants;

Agricultural production Land access; Agricultural outputs

Farm activities; Agricultural outputs

Spatial information Provinces; District councils

Provinces; Rural categories (formal/ex-homeland)

Food insecurity based on hunger scale- GHS 2007-2012

Food insecurity based on hunger scale- GHS 2007-2012

Hunger scale

2007 2010 2012

N (HHs) % N (HHs) % N (HHs) %

Never 11,159,150 86.48 11,421,362 81.35 11,996,295 83.28

Seldom/sometimes 1 489 289 11.54 2 196 361 15.64 1,996,636 13.86Often/always 255 795 1.98 422 467 3.01 411,565 2.86

IES 2010/11 Data IssuesIES 2010/11 Data Issues

• IES sample: Master Sample PSUs + 174 urban PSUs (2001 Census)

• Information about expenditure items: classification of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP); reference period= 12 months

• Diary method renders a more complete understanding of a household's acquisition patterns- greater accuracy

• Some evidence on where households buy virtually all their food items

Average Annual Household Spending on Food, IES 2010/11

Average Annual Household Spending on Food, IES 2010/11

Food Items URBAN RURAL TOTALBread & Cereals 841.38 1042.3 906.76Meat 1411.6 1302.7 1360.7Fish 718.13 383.38 606.7Dairy 583.81 695.22 637.32Eggs 1151.2 630.19 898.03Fats & Oils 323.35 660.87 518.71Fresh Fruits 233.55 114.16 204.97Dried Fruit & Nuts 52 78 69.08Processed Fruits 472.86. 472.86Fresh Vegetables 173.22 379.36 320.58Processed Vegetables 559.15 526.72 546.28Sugars & Sweets 244.38 366.11 288.14Processed, Salts & Food Hampers 11364 7649.3 9649.9Beverages: Tea & Coffee 759.89 91 661.32Soft Drinks & Fruit Juices 512.58 357.19 430.9

IES 2005/06- Diverse access to food IES 2005/06- Diverse access to food (Aliber 2009)(Aliber 2009)

IES 2005/06- Diverse access to food IES 2005/06- Diverse access to food (Aliber 2009)(Aliber 2009)

• ‘IES does pick up significant differences in the diversity of their diets, and by implication of the quality of those diets’

• ‘small-scale agriculture would appear to account for most or all of the gap observed in food expenditure per capita between rural and urban households’

• “…household-level food security comprises distinct dimensions, such as frequency of having ‘enough food’, and the nutritional quality of the diet” (Aliber 2009: 405)

National Income Dynamics Survey- W2 National Income Dynamics Survey- W2

• Food Expenditure at the household level• Household consumed food in last 30 days- binary

response• Value of HH consumption- no units of consumption

• Nutritional markers: BMI scores, child health indicators

• Therefore linkage between household food access status and individual nutritional status

Average Household Expenditure on Average Household Expenditure on cereals 30 days pre-survey, NIDS Wave 2cereals 30 days pre-survey, NIDS Wave 2

Average Household Expenditure on Average Household Expenditure on cereals 30 days pre-survey, NIDS Wave 2cereals 30 days pre-survey, NIDS Wave 2

Food Item Rural-formal

Rural-Tribal

Urban-Informal

Urban-Formal

Maize 122.62 105.32 58.03 57.17Samp & Beans 33.14 41.66 29.15 35.23Bread 91.87 81.25 72.48 104.09Spending Share 0.4 0.45 0.42 0.3Total Food Expenditure 949.75 776.39 731.1 1477.9

Total HH Exp 3568.2 2330.7 2076.2 8633.7

Access to Diverse Food- rapid household framework & indicator [HFAD]?

Access to Diverse Food- rapid household framework & indicator [HFAD]?

  FOOD GROUP DIVERSITY NARROW WIDE

FOOD SPENDING SHARE

HIGH 11 3

LOW 2 44

Missing link 1- who must be prioritised in food and nutrition policy?

Missing link 1- who must be prioritised in food and nutrition policy?

• Prioritise the needs to those without adequate food and nutrition• Translate constitutional provision into appropriate policy and

efficacious programmes• Inseparable from global & local right to food

debates/campaigns- example UN/FAO, India’s new Food Security Law, etc.

• Falling into food & nutrition insecurity easier than transitioning out of it- extreme vulnerability problem?• Food price crises: 3 waves of rapid food price inflation • Global economic downturn (working poverty pathway…)• Begin to explore intra-household and individual food &

nutrition security

Missing link 2: Improve our food and nutrition measurement tools and methods

Missing link 2: Improve our food and nutrition measurement tools and methods

• Invest in high-frequency and low-cost tools to map the food and nutrition status of households/individuals- SANHANES-1 +++

• Better measurement of household food security status• Indicators for multiple facets of food & nutrition security (include

access, consumption)• Richer nationally representative datasets- with reliable least

district level information • Scope for improvements and high-frequency M&E tools

• Further research required how food access relates to dietary diversity and ‘coping strategies• Caveat- mixed livelihood strategies impossible to investigate

because surveys exclude primary and secondary sources