Unexpected events and shocks constitute greater threats to the attainment of zero hunger targets in Africa and the world over, and in the extreme case, lead to total collapse of the global food system and food supply chain. Consequently, this causes significant loss of critical income sources, renders individuals vulnerable, and further deteriorates households' livelihood outcome and welfare state. Therefore, the need for social protection programs to mitigate the impact of distress and unexpected events, as well as extreme occurrences cannot be over emphasized. This research used dataset from the 1499 households captured in the 2021 South African General Household Survey to investigate whether access to a special relief from distress grant has effect on the livestock farming households' food security status in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, a two-sample t-test, a food insecurity experience-based scale technique, and a fractional outcome model were used to analyze the datasets. Based on access to the grant, households in the non-beneficiary group are significantly distinguishable from the beneficiary counterparts, such that the beneficiary households out-performed the non-beneficiary households in the food break-even and food surplus categories. The findings further indicated the possibility of transition of the beneficiary households' population under the transitory food insecurity category to either the chronic food insecurity status or food break-even status, subject to the effectiveness of the food security policy to which they are exposed. The fractional outcome model also indicated that non-metropolitan resident households (p < 0.05), access to the special grant (p < 0.01), access to health facilities (p < 0.01), age of households' heads (p < 0.01), colored, indian and white population groups (both at p < 0.01), as well as access to remittance (p < 0.01) made significant contributions to the households' food security status. The Wald test indicated that access to the special relief grant had a significant effect on the households' food security status in the study area. The study therefore recommends accelerated investments in various social investment programs as sustained responses to expected and unexpected shocks and occurrences to be able to induce progress and realize more resilient food systems.
Citation: Seyi Olalekan Olawuyi, Abbyssinia Mushunje. Access to special COVID-19 relief from distress grant and livelihood outcome of livestock farming households in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa[J]. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 2023, 8(2): 598-614. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2023033
Unexpected events and shocks constitute greater threats to the attainment of zero hunger targets in Africa and the world over, and in the extreme case, lead to total collapse of the global food system and food supply chain. Consequently, this causes significant loss of critical income sources, renders individuals vulnerable, and further deteriorates households' livelihood outcome and welfare state. Therefore, the need for social protection programs to mitigate the impact of distress and unexpected events, as well as extreme occurrences cannot be over emphasized. This research used dataset from the 1499 households captured in the 2021 South African General Household Survey to investigate whether access to a special relief from distress grant has effect on the livestock farming households' food security status in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, a two-sample t-test, a food insecurity experience-based scale technique, and a fractional outcome model were used to analyze the datasets. Based on access to the grant, households in the non-beneficiary group are significantly distinguishable from the beneficiary counterparts, such that the beneficiary households out-performed the non-beneficiary households in the food break-even and food surplus categories. The findings further indicated the possibility of transition of the beneficiary households' population under the transitory food insecurity category to either the chronic food insecurity status or food break-even status, subject to the effectiveness of the food security policy to which they are exposed. The fractional outcome model also indicated that non-metropolitan resident households (
| [1] |
Meisnner H, Scoltz M, Engelbrecht F (2013) Sustainability of the South African Livestock Sector towards 2050 Part 2: Challenges, changes and required implementations. S Afr J Anim Sci 43: 298–319. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajas.v43i3.6 doi: 10.4314/sajas.v43i3.6
|
| [2] | European Commission (2015) Global food security: Challenges and options. European Union Agricultural Markets Briefs 9. Available from: https://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/357441/. |
| [3] |
Borras AM, Mohamed FA (2020) Health inequities and the shifting paradigms of food security, food insecurity, and food sovereignty. Int J Health Serv 50: 299–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731420913184 doi: 10.1177/0020731420913184
|
| [4] | Penner S, Kevany K, Longboat S (2019) Indigenous food sovereignty 658 in Canada: Policy paper. Building rural policy through international comparative analysis. Rural policy learning commons (RPLC). Available from: https://rplcarchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Penner-Kevany-Longboat-2019-Indigenous-Food-Sovereignty-in-Canada-Policy-Brief.pdf. |
| [5] |
Thiemann L, Roman-Alcalá A (2019) Fast food sovereignty: Contradiction in terms or logical next step? J Agric Environ Ethics 32: 813–834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-019-09800-4 doi: 10.1007/s10806-019-09800-4
|
| [6] |
Nardone A, Ronchi B, Lacetera N, et al. (2010) Effects of climate changes on animal production and sustainability of livestock systems. Livest Sci 130: 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2010.02.011 doi: 10.1016/j.livsci.2010.02.011
|
| [7] |
Rojas-Downing M, Nejadhashemi A, Harrigan T, et al. (2017) Climate change and livestock: Impacts, adaptation, and mitigation. Clim Risk Manag 16: 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.02.001 doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2017.02.001
|
| [8] | Blanke J (2020) Economic impact of COVID-19: Protecting Africa's food systems from farm to fork. Africa in focus public brief. Available from: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/06/19/economic-impact-of-COVID-19-protecting-africas-food-systems-from-farm-to-fork/. |
| [9] |
Oduniyi SO, Rubhara TT, Antwi MA (2020) Sustainability of livestock farming in South Africa. Outlook on production constraints, climate-related events, and upshot on adaptive capacity. Sustainability 12: 2582. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072582 doi: 10.3390/su12072582
|
| [10] | Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) (2020) Media statement: Minister Didiza announces the outcome of the COVID-19 agricultural disaster fund application process. Republic of South Africa. Available from: https://www.daff.gov.za/docs/media/Statement%20on%20the%20outcome%20of%20the%20agriculture%20distaster%20fund%20application%20process.pdf. |
| [11] |
Popoola OO, Yusuf SFG (2021) South African government palliative funds for agriculture amid COVID-19: Challenges of implementation and suggestions for improvements. SAJAE 49: 16–30. http://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n3a12840 doi: 10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n3a12840
|
| [12] |
Maltitz LV, Bahta YT (2021) Empowerment of smallholder female livestock farmers and its potential impacts to their resilience to agricultural drought. AIMS Agric Food 6: 603–630. https://doi.org/10.3934/agrfood.2021036 doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2021036
|
| [13] | Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (2019) Abstract of Agricultural Statistics; Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Pretoria, South Africa. Available from: http://www.dalrrd.gov.za/phocadownloadpap/Statistics_and_Economic_Analysis/Statistical_Information/Abstract%202019.pdf. |
| [14] |
Marchant-Forde JN, Boyle LA (2020) COVID-19 effects on livestock production: A one welfare issue. Front Vet Sci 7: 585787. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.585787 doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.585787
|
| [15] |
Oluwatayo IB (2019) Towards assuring food security in South Africa: Smallholder farmers as drivers. AIMS Agric Food 4: 485–500. https://doi.org/10.3934/agrfood.2019.2.485 doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2019.2.485
|
| [16] |
Scanlan SJ (2003) Food security and comparative sociology. Int J Soc 33: 88–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/15579336.2003.11770272 doi: 10.1080/15579336.2003.11770272
|
| [17] |
Shahzad MA, Qing P, Rizwan M, et al. (2021) COVID-19 pandemic, determinants of food insecurity, and household mitigation measures: A case study of Punjab, Pakistan. Healthcare 9: 621. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9060621 doi: 10.3390/healthcare9060621
|
| [18] |
Shahzad MA, Razzaq A, Qing P, et al. (2022) Food availability and shopping channels during the disasters: Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed peoples' online food purchasing behavior? Int J Dis Risk Reduct 83: 103443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103443 doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103443
|
| [19] |
Hosu SY, Cishe EN, Luswazi PN (2019) Vulnerability to climate change in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa: What does the future hold for smallholder crop farmers? Agrekon 55: 133–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2016.1157025 doi: 10.1080/03031853.2016.1157025
|
| [20] | South African Government (2017) South Africa's Provinces. Available from: http://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africas-provinces. |
| [21] | Statistics South Africa (Stats-SA) (2022) South Africa: General households survey 2021. Available from: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php. |
| [22] | Aphiwe K (2017) Assessment of production practices of emerging cattle farmers in the selected districts of the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Master thesis, Central University of Technology. |
| [23] | South Africa Travel Online (2023) Map of South Africa showing Eastern Cape Province. Available from: https://www.southafrica.to/provinces/provinces.php. |
| [24] | Ballard TJ, Kepple AW, Cafiero C (2013) The food insecurity experience scale: Development of a global standard for monitoring hunger worldwide. Available from: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/voh/FIES_Technical_Paper_v1.1.pdf. |
| [25] |
Cafiero C, Melgar‐Quiñonez H, Ballard T, et al. (2014) Validity and reliability of food security measures. Ann NY Acad Sci 1331: 230–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12594 doi: 10.1111/nyas.12594
|
| [26] |
Aboaba K, Fadiji D, Hussayn J (2020) Determinants of food security among rural households in Southwestern Nigeria: USDA food security questionnaire core module approach. J Agribus Rural Dev 2: 113–124. https://doi.org/10.17306/J.JARD.2020.01295 doi: 10.17306/J.JARD.2020.01295
|
| [27] |
Kassie M, Stage J, Teklewold H, et al. (2015) Gendered Food Security in Rural Malawi: Why is women's food security lower? Food Sec 7: 1299–1320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-015-0517-y doi: 10.1007/s12571-015-0517-y
|
| [28] | World Food Programme (WFP) Gender Office (2020) The power of gender equality for food security: Closing another gender data gap with a new quantitative measure. Available from: https://www.wfp.org/publications/power-gender-equality-food-security. |
| [29] |
Nord M, Cafiero C, Viviani S (2016) Methods for estimating comparable prevalence rates of food insecurity experienced by adults in 147 countries and areas. J Phys: Confer Ser 772: 012060. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/772/1/012060 doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/772/1/012060
|
| [30] |
Papke LE, Wooldridge JM (1996) Econometric methods for fractional response variables with an application to 401(K) plan participation rates. J Appl Economet 11: 619–632. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1255(199611)11:6<619::AID-JAE418>3.0.CO;2-1 doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1255(199611)11:6<619::AID-JAE418>3.0.CO;2-1
|
| [31] | Gallani S, Krishnan R, Wooldridge JM (2015) Applications of fractional response model to the study of bounded dependent variables in accounting research. Available from: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/applications-of-fractional-response-model-to-the-study-of-bounded-dependent-variables-in-accounting-research. |
| [32] |
Oberhofer H, Pfaffermayr M (2012) Fractional response models-A replication exercise of Papke and Wooldridge (1996). Contemp Econ 6: 56–64. https://doi.org/10.5709/ce.1897-9254.50 doi: 10.5709/ce.1897-9254.50
|
| [33] | Williams R (2019) Analyzing proportions: Fractional response and zero one inflated beta models. Available from: https://www3.nd.edu/~rwilliam/xsoc73994/FractionalResponseModels.pdf. |
| [34] | Maluleke R (2019) Towards measuring the extent of food security in South Africa. An examination of hunger and food inadequacy. Report 03-00-14, Statistics South Africa: Pretoria. |
| [35] | Mbewana V (2018) The determinants of food security status among indigent rural households in the Isikelo community of the Mbizana local municipality, Eastern Cape Province, Master thesis, University of Zululand. |
| [36] |
Ngumbela X, Khalema E, Nzimakwe T (2020) Local worlds: Vulnerability and food insecurity in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Jàmbá-J Disaster Risk Stud 12: a830. https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v12i1.830 doi: 10.4102/jamba.v12i1.830
|
| [37] | Kahsay S, Mulugeta M (2014) Determinants of rural household food insecurity in Laelay Maichew Woreda Tigray, Ethiopia. Afr J Agric Food Sec 2: 106–112. |
| [38] | Masuku M, Selepede B, Mtyingizane S (2015) Factors contributing to household food insecurity in Mhlontlo area, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Afr J Hospitality, Tourism Leisure 4: 1–15. |
| [39] | Jebran K, Abdullah A, Iqbal A, et al. (2016) Effects of remittances on per-capita economic growth of Pakistan. Pak Bus Rev 18: 1–18. |
| [40] | World Health Organization (2001) Declaration of Helsinki. Bull Word Health Org 79: 373–374. |
Figures(1) / Tables(4)
Seyi Olalekan Olawuyi, Abbyssinia Mushunje. Access to special COVID-19 relief from distress grant and livelihood outcome of livestock farming households in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa[J]. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 2023, 8(2): 598-614. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2023033
DownLoad: