The realisation of the right of access to sufficient food in South Africa : a comparative assessment of subsistence farming and social grants as means to ensure food security in rural households

Abstract

The right to have access to sufficient food is one of the constitutionally entrenched rights in the South African Constitution. Section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food. Section 27(2) of the Constitution provides that the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. This imposes an obligation on the government to take legislative and other measures to ensure that strategies are in place to achieve the realisation of the right to have access to food. Since South Africa became a democratic state, the government has enacted several legislative measures and other measures aimed at realising socio-economic rights, including the right to have access to food. These legislative measures and other measures comply with South Africa's national, regional and international obligations and commitments. The government has over the years implemented strategies to ensure that it fulfils its obligations in respect of the right to have access to food. These interventions include short-term and long-term interventions aimed at reducing poverty and increasing food security, especially at household level. Rural households suffer from the most severe poverty and food insecurity. This thesis seeks to investigate the extent to which the South African government is complying with its national and international commitments and obligations in realising the right to have access to food, as entrenched in section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution, through its short-, medium- and long-term measures, with specific reference to rural households. In this investigation, the content and context of the right to have access to food as contained in national law, regional law and international law are examined. Relevant legislative measures and human rights instruments relating to the right to food are analysed and discussed. The role of poverty in perpetuating food insecurity, especially in rural households, is discussed. The government's strategies to reduce food insecurity are identified in the context of both short-term and long-term food security interventions, namely social grants and subsistence farming. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the role of subsistence agriculture as a food security intervention, as

outlined in national, regional and international law frameworks. Case studies are used to examine the prevailing realities of rural households that rely on subsistence farming, either as a source of food or as a source of income. With reference to Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria, a comparative analysis is conducted to discuss the importance of government support systems in ensuring the viability of subsistence farming as a food security intervention. Lessons relevant to South Africa are drawn from this comparative analysis with a view to adopting a pluralistic extension system to revive the subsistence agricultural sector. In conclusion, this thesis reveals the need for government to adopt proactive legislative and other measures that will empower households to engage in profitable subsistence agriculture to meet their food needs and increase household income.