EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF FOOD SECURITY STATUS OF AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE PLATINUM PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

This paper gives a succinct report on an investigationinto the food security constraints of rural farminghouseholds in the North West Province of South Africa. Datapresented was gathered across the four districts, and was analyzedusing descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Thedescriptive results showed that the mean age of rural farmerswas 55 years and the average household size was 7 members.Logistic regression results on factors influencing foodsecurity in the study showed that variables such as age of thehousehold’s head, household feeding rate, the total cost ofproduction, farm income and health expenditure had significantimpact on the respondents’ food security (at p < 0.05).As shown by Probit regression results, constraints such as theage of household head, food availability, veld fires, marketavailability, predator invasion, health expenditure and veterinarypractices significantly influenced the achievement offood security in the study area. This study concluded that ruralfarming households were witnessing different dimensions offood insecurity which affected different aspects of their socialand economic activities. It is therefore the responsibility of thegovernment to come up with a holistic approach to addressthe present discrepancy in the national and grass-roots foodsecurity status.