PROF N. LUDIDI

The aim of the second goal of the United Nations in its Sustainable Development Goals programme (SDG2) is to free the world from hunger in all its forms by 2030. This requires that action must be taken to ensure that the current 2,4 billion food insecure people in the world (more than 30% of the world population) attain food security by 2030. For this to be realised, all people in the world must have “physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” at any moment. This is based on the definition of food security as established by the 1996 World Food Summit. However, the structure of the South African Food System has various structural defects that hinder the attainment of SDG 2. This is evident from the fact that, despite South Africa being in the upper middle-income group countries globally, a significant portion of the country’s population suffers from either undernutrition or overnutrition. Furthermore, the majority of South Africa’s food production relies mainly on systems that negatively impact sustainability, inclusiveness and territorial balance.

Despite the fact that South Africa has a positive food balance (i.e., there is sufficient food in the country’s food system) and there are policy interventions to reduce food insecurity, food insecurity is persistent. This challenge is exacerbated by increased environmental degradation as a consequence of the agricultural techniques used in food production, which is also linked to the effects of climate change on the environment. Adding to the complexity of the challenges in our country’s food system are asymmetries in factors that influence food value chains and food governance.

In an effort to address the above-mentioned challenges, the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS), which is led by the University of the Western Cape and co-led by the University of Pretoria, conducts research that develops solutions to ensure that diverse, nutrient dense and safe foods are the focus for access to healthy diets that are inclusively attainable for the broader South African population. This is coupled to activities that are geared towards transition to agroecology-based systems as means to achieve sustainable food production, with emphasis on the importance of smallholder farmers demonstrating the benefits of such systems to encourage their adoption by large scale farmers. The CoE-FS plays a critical role in developing information and strategies for catalysing reform in government policies towards the adoption of an integrated approach that will build an inclusive food system to ensure food security for all South Africans, and from and to which the broader African continent can learn and contribute. This is supported by initiatives within the CoE-FS that encourages inclusive participation of the various stakeholders in the food system of the country towards enhanced engagement that emphasises place-based approaches to the governance of the food system. All the research and engagement activities of the CoE-FS are rooted in and anchored on postgraduate student education, training and capacity development, which nurtures graduates towards competence in order to provide efficient and effective solutions to multifaceted and complex real-world challenges.