Food Security in Urban Cities: A Case Study Conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa

Michael Rudolph^1, , Florian Kroll¹, Evans Muchesa¹, Mark Paiker² and Paul Fatti³

¹Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE), University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

²DMSA, Johannesburg, South Africa

³³University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Cite this paper

Michael Rudolph, Florian Kroll, Evans Muchesa, Mark Paiker and Paul Fatti. Food Security in Urban Cities: A Case Study Conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa. Journal of Food Security. 2021; 9(2):46-55. doi: 10.12691/JFS-9-2-2

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of food insecurity in greater Johannesburg metropole (South Africa). A total of 1000 households were interviewed using standardised food insecurity scaling and scoring metrics. Findings revealed that 34% of households experienced food insecurity and almost 60% spent R1000($57) or less on food per month. Only half of respondents reported adequate food provisioning throughout the year. Many households frequently bought less preferred foods or only what was necessary and almost 50% borrowed food or money to cope with food insecurity. Appropriate interventions to alleviate food and nutrition security are essential.

Keywords

food security, City of Johannesburg, urbanisation, nutrition, household, hunger, sources, access

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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