Impact of social grants and remittances on household food security in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Type Thesis or Dissertation - Master's thesis
Title Impact of social grants and remittances on household food security in Limpopo Province, South Africa
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2012
URL http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/rug01:001894499
Abstract
South Africa is one of those countries that exhibit two faces of food security status. Nationally, South Africa is food secure however, there are some pockets of areas, individuals and households experiencing high levels of food insecurity. Provincially, Limpopo is among the poorest and most food insecure provinces. In a bid to combat poverty and food insecurity, the government is implementing a number of strategies, among which are the social grants. Besides that, people have also changed their livelihood strategies so that they remain resilient to shocks and risks. One of these strategies is migrant remittances. These two income sources form the basis of this study since they are received without any one working. The study was interested in assessing the impact of social grants and remittances on household food security in Limpopo province. Five districts of the province were randomly selected for the study from which 599 households were interviewed. The responses from the questionnaires were analysed using SPSS 19 programme.

Results indicate that social grants and remittances contribute 56% and 13% to the total income. About 40% of the households in the province that received remittances were food secure compared to the 14 % in grants receiving households. At district level, Sekhukhune district was the most food secure district with 37% of the households being food secure while Mopani district was the most food insecure. It is observed that households that received remittances were more food secure than those of grants, as 59% of the households that received social grants were severely food insecure. Location, gender, education of the household head, remittances and social grants were among the key factors or determinants of food security. Hence remittances and social grants contribute to food security but at varying degrees.

The most striking shock faced by every household was the increase in food prices and it appears like households and individuals employ a variety of coping strategies in order to smoothen consumption and income. Very important to note is that social relations play fundamental role in helping vulnerable individuals and households out stressing moments.

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