In a recent surge of statecraft in the Cape Town city-region, officials negotiated a complex state terrain to realign institutions and policies governing food. This happened in a context where multiple governmental rationalities converged to create an ambiguous governance terrain that undermined the capacity for co-ordinated and decisive action. Our analysis of secondary literature, policy documents and interviews with officials reveals how they exploited shifts in this fraught topology of governmental reason. The notion of the 'zombie state' was articulated by officials to express an internal critique of the disabling design features of city-region government. Strategic discourse pursuing resilience established novel institutions and cultivated informal networks of influence. These transformations enabled creative thinking to inform innovative statecraft. This may galvanise the zombie state to govern food systems in the interests of the vulnerable. Our findings trouble totalising readings of Foucauldian power-knowledge which preclude agency and innovative political action to promote population wellbeing.

Abstract Objective: To examine power and governance arrangements in food and nutrition policy formulation and agenda-setting in South Africa Design: Analysis of the policy implementation environment and in-depth interviews were conducted focussing on: existing policy content and priorities across food system sectors; institutional structures for cross-sectoral and external stakeholder engagement; exercise of power in relation to food system policies; and opportunities to strengthen action on nutrition. Setting: South Africa Participants: Interviews were conducted with 48 key stakeholders involved in the food and nutrition policy sphere: government sectors relevant to food systems (n=21), the private sector (n=4), academia (n=10), NGOs (n=11) and farmers (n=2). Results: This study found that there are power dynamics involved in shaping the planning agenda that is inadvertently generating a food system that undermines the right to food. The concept of nutrition governance remains poorly defined and applied in different ways and usually based on a relatively narrow interpretation – therefore limiting policy coherence and coordination. South Africa has strong legal institutions and practices, and social policies that support public provisioning of food, but a non-interventionist approach to the food system. Conclusions: The right to food and nutrition, as outlined in the South African Constitution, has not yet been effectively utilized to establish a robust normative and legal basis for tackling the dual challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition. Currently, the governance of the food system is grappling with substantial obstacles, balancing the influence of powerful stakeholders who uphold the status quo against its responsibilities for food justice.

OBJECTIVE:To examine underlying political economy factors that enable or impede the integration of nutrition considerations into food system governance. DESIGN:Comparative political economy analysis of data collected through (1) value chain analyses of selected healthy and unhealthy commodities and (2) food system policy analyses, using a theoretical framework focused on power, politics, interests and ideas. SETTING:Ghana and South Africa. PARTICIPANTS:Value chain actors relevant to healthy and unhealthy foods (Ghana n 121; South Africa n 72) and policy stakeholders from government (Health, Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Finance), academia, civil society, development partners, Civil Society Organization (CSO) and private sector (Ghana n 28; South Africa n 48). RESULTS:Nutrition was a stated policy priority in both countries; however, policy responsibility was located within the health sector, with limited integration of nutrition into food system sectors (including Agriculture, Trade and Industry). Contributing factors included a conceptions of policy responsibilities for nutrition and food systems, dominant ideas and narratives regarding the economic role of the food industry and the purpose of food system policy, the influence of large food industry actors, and limited institutional structures for cross-sectoral engagement and coordination. CONCLUSIONS:Integrating nutrition into multi-sectoral food policy to achieve multiple food system policy goals will require strategic action across jurisdictions and regional levels. Opportunities included increasing investment in healthy traditional foods, strengthening urban/rural linkages and informal food systems, and strengthening institutional structures for policy coherence and coordination related to nutrition.

OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to determine differences in food consumption by the NOVA food categories in South Africa and Ghana and how they relate to poverty and food supply systems. DESIGN:This study used a cross-sectional design to assess household food acquisition and lived poverty index. SETTING:The study was conducted in Khayelitsha and Mount Frere, urban and rural communities in South Africa, respectively, and Ahodwo and Ejuratia, urban and rural communities in Ghana, respectively. PARTICIPANT:An adult in charge of or knowledgeable about household food acquisition and consumption was selected to participate in the study. RESULTS:A total of 1299 households participated in the study. Supermarkets were a prominent source of ultra-processed foods for households in South Africa, while informal outlets were an important source of ultra-processed foods in Ghana. Consumption of unprocessed foods was higher among South African households (58·2 %) than Ghanaian households (41·8 %). In South Africa, deprivation was associated with increased odds of infrequent consumption of both unprocessed foods (OR 3·431 P < 0·001) and ultra-processed foods (OR 2·656 P < 0·001) compared with non-deprivation. In Ghana, no significant differences were observed between deprived households and non-deprived households in relation to the consumption of the NOVA food classes. CONCLUSION:Different food supply systems and poverty are associated with household acquisition of the different NOVA food classes. Policies should be geared towards formal shops in South Africa and informal shops in Ghana to reduce the consumption of key obesogenic foods.

Well before the Covid-19 pandemic, rapidly growing cities of the global South were at the epicenter of multiple converging crises affecting food systems. Globally, government lockdown responses to the disease triggered shocks which cascaded unevenly through urban food systems, exacerbating food insecurity. Cities worldwide developed strategies to mitigate shocks, but research on statecraft enabling food systems resilience is sparse. Addressing this gap, we analyse the case of the African metropolis of Cape Town, where lockdown disrupted livelihoods, mobility and food provision, deepening food insecurity. Employing a vital systems security lens, we show how civil society and state networks mobilised to mitigate and adapt to lockdown impacts. Building on preceding institutional transformations, civil society and state collaborated to deliver emergency food aid, while advocacy networks raised food on the political agenda, formulated proposals, and navigated these through a widened policy window. Emergency statecraft assembled networks and regulatory instruments to secure food systems, enhance preparedness for future disruptions and present opportunities for transition towards more sustainable food systems. However, current food systems configuration enabled powerful actors to resist deeper transformation while devolving impacts to community networks. Despite resilient vested interests and power disparities, advocacy coalitions can anticipate and leverage crises to incrementally advance transformational, pro-poor statecraft.

Background: Post-positivist critics of the linear-rational understanding of the role of knowledge in decision making have long argued the need for the construction of socially robust knowledge to illuminate policy problems from a variety of perspectives, including lived experiences. Aims and objectives: This article charts the attempts of researchers to employ a creative method, digital storytelling, alongside more traditional scientific data in stakeholder deliberations to inform local food governance in South Africa. Methods: Four storytellers from a marginalised group created and introduced their digital story about a 'time when they had to make a difficult choice about what food to purchase or get' to a public governance forum and the reactions of the audience self-reported. Findings: The digital stories were emotionally compelling and gave granular detail to the more top-down perspective of the scientific data. There were concerns, however, for the welfare of the storytellers when introducing their stories in the forum. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings highlight the multi-functionality of digital storytelling as a method of creativity within the process of co-production, not just as a technique to make visible knowledge from marginalised groups, but also as a mechanism (when used and viewed in a wider governance context) to promote knowledge mobilisation and alternative ways of knowing. The use of digital storytelling in these wider governance contexts, or social learning spaces, however, also surfaces ethical and other risks.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high burdens of nutrition-related chronic diseases. This has been associated with lack of access to adequate and affordable nutritious foods and increasing reliance on imported foods. Our aim in this study was to investigate dietary patterns and food insecurity and assess their associations with socio-demographic characteristics and food sources. We recruited individuals aged 15 years and above from rural and urban areas in Fiji (n = 186) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) (n = 147). Data collection included a 24 h diet recall, food source questionnaire and the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. We conducted latent class analysis to identify dietary patterns, and multivariable regression to investigate independent associations with dietary patterns. Three dietary patterns were identified: (1) low pulses, and milk and milk products, (2) intermediate pulses, and milk and milk products and (3) most diverse. In both SIDS, dietary pattern 3 was associated with older age, regularly sourcing food from supermarkets and borrowing, exchanging, bartering or gifting (BEB). Prevalence of food insecurity was not statistically different across dietary patterns. In both SIDS, food insecurity was higher in those regularly sourcing food from small shops, and in SVG, lower in those regularly using BEB. These results complement previous findings and provide a basis for further investigation into the determinants of dietary patterns, dietary diversity and food insecurity in these settings.

Background The high burden of disease related to malnutrition in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has been exacerbated by increasing levels of food insecurity (FI) and loss of food sovereignty. Internationally, household, or individual level FI is associated with poorer diets and nutritional status. Our study aimed to investigate whether there are distinct dietary patterns, and if so whether they are associated with socio-demographic characteristics (SDC), dietary diversity scores (DDS), food sources and experience of food insecurity in adults in two SIDS: Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Methods A cross-sectional household survey was conducted, recruiting adults and adolescents (> 15 years) from 95 and 86 households in rural and urban Fiji (n=186) and SVG (n=147), respectively. Data were collected by trained interviewers using standard tools with a 24-hour recall component, adapted to the local food environments. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted using 13 food groups, and moderate to severe FI categories derived from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). LCA was undertaken in R, and best fit solutions were based on the AIC results. Differences between the LCA derived classes were examined using one-way ANOVA and Pearson Chi-Squared tests. Results In both Fiji and SVG the best fit LCA derived 3 distinct dietary patterns, across which were differences in DDS (p<0.001). In Fiji dietary patterns were associated with age (p=0.042), sex (p=0.047), and rural residence (p=0.005). In SVG there were no associations with SDCs. In both Fiji and SVG dietary patterns were associated with >weekly sourcing of food by borrowing/exchanging (p<0.001), and in both settings sourcing food in this way was most frequent in the dietary pattern with the highest DDS. In SVG >weekly sourcing food from a small shop varied by dietary pattern (p=0.002), being highest in that with the lowest DDS. In Fiji FI was associated with dietary patterns (p=0.011), ranging from 6.7% (95%CI 3.0, 14.1) to 26.5% (95%CI 14.3, 43.7). In SVG there was no apparent association between FI and dietary pattern (p=0.507), and FI in the whole sample was 35.4% (95%CI 27.6, 43.1). Conclusion Food environment and culture likely accounts for differences across settings. However, associations were found among dietary patterns and SDC, FI and food sources in at least one setting, with sourcing food through borrowing/bartering prominent among groups in both settings, with the highest DDS. This highlights the need for further research to inform policies.

Abstract The highly concentrated formal agri‐food sector holds enormous power in the governance of the food system in South Africa. Yet the concept of food democracy holds that all people should have an equal opportunity to participate in (re)shaping their food system. To contribute to decision making, however, stakeholders not only need access to knowledge about the food system, but should also be able to inform what is considered relevant knowledge. Communities of practice—groups of people who share a common interest or concern and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis—provide novel spaces for stakeholder involvement in food governance. This article sets out the process of establishing and maintaining a community of (food) practice in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Through participant observation, analysis of unpublished documents, as well as in depth interviews, the core elements of the community of practice are charted over its 3 yr history. The article demonstrates the informal and evolving nature of communities of practice as social learning structures that can gain credibility and potentially develop into more formal democratic institutions over.

As urban food systems erode the ecological foundations of society, researchers advocate multi‐level and adaptive governance to promote transitions toward sustainability. Agroecological discourse proposes transition to resilient, localized, and democratic city–region food systems, but neoliberal interpretations subvert radical aspirations. In the South African metropoles of Johannesburg and Cape Town, the governance terrain entails a concentrated industrial food system providing large, impoverished populations with unhealthy food derived from monocultures and transported along global value chains. Governing these urban food systems toward agroecological transition requires engagement with state governance mechanisms and rationalities. Considering state capabilities to promote agroecological transitions, the paper shows that fragmented institutional structures, policy patchworks, intersecting logics of control, and divergent ideologies constitute an ambiguous governance terrain posing major hurdles to transition. For metropolitan states to muster the will and assemble means for deep transformation of food systems and dominant state rationalities, a compelling alternative narrative must emerge. This requires persistent strategic engagement between officials and agroecological movements. To cultivate fertile political ground for seeds of deep, just transitions to take root, agroecology movements must grasp the nettle of metropolitan state capabilities.

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.

Background Small Island Developing States (SIDS) often lack food and nutrition security and sovereignty due to historically poor infrastructure to support local food systems, reduced domestic food production and increased reliance on generally processed imported foods. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity (FI) and to investigate associations between FI and socio-demographic factors, food sources and dietary diversity score (DDS) in two SIDS: Fiji and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey with adults (≥15years) from 95 and 86 sampled households in Fiji and SVG, respectively. We recruited households from urban, rural, higher and lower income areas (n=184 individuals Fiji; n=144 SVG) and administered a context-relevant toolkit to collect individual-level information on FI, dietary intake to calculate DDS (scored out of 10, based on food groups consumed), food sources, socio-economic and health data. We administered the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Insecurity Experience Scale, and as recommended by FAO scaled the data using Rasch modelling, and defined FI as those in the moderate or severe categories. We undertook bivariate analyses to assess associations followed by multivariable logistic regression with FI as the dependent variable, adjusted for household clustering. Results In Fiji and SVG respectively, 12.5% (95%CI 7.6, 17.9) and 35.4% (95%CI 27.6, 43.1) individuals experienced FI. A greater proportion of those experiencing FI were female and older adults, had less than secondary education, were urban residents and smaller (<3 members) households. In Fiji, mean DDS did not differ by FI status. However, in SVG mean DDS was lower among those experiencing FI (Diff -0.5, 95%CI: 0.0, -1.0; p=0.048). Regularly (>weekly) sourcing food from small shops was associated with FI in both countries, particularly in Fiji (47.8% FI vs 18.4% not FI, 95%CI on diff: 8.2, 50.7). In the multivariable analysis, FI was associated with females and regularly sourcing food from small shops in both countries. In Fiji, but not SVG, FI was associated with older age (Fiji OR 1.05; 95%CI 1.02, 1.08). Regularly sourcing food through borrowing/exchanging was associated with lower FI in SVG but not Fiji (SVG OR 0.38; 95%CI 0.15, 0.97). Conclusion Policy action is needed to improve food security, particularly among women and older adults. Our findings indicate avenues for future research, such as the association between small shops and FI and the role that food borrowing/exchanging may play in improving food security and health in SIDS.

Socio-economic disparities create conditions that contribute to poor population health. Poor health increases this socio-economic burden on the health care system and undermines society’s capacity to reduce disparities and develop resilience to converging challenges regarding global, regional and national food systems. Using a structured mixed literature review design as well as both primary and secondary data sources collected through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and studies, this paper reflects on some key socio-economic challenges facing South Africa and shows how the findings from the research can contribute to and address public health and agricultural development policies and challenges. These themes have been presented within the broader and contemporary discourse on the relationship between ecological health, food security and national development. The agriculture system in South Africa is one of the biggest governments supported systems with a wide community reach and is thus a key sector. The debilitating effects of unhealthy communities, poor environments and socio-economic disparities are inextricably linked to food and nutrition insecurity. The findings from the reviews of the various papers and reports clearly demonstrate on the one hand the high prevalence of food and nutrition security but on the other hand reports and studies emphasize the positive outcomes of an integrated approach to addressing nutrition and food security. Furthermore, agricultural extension highlights how multi and trans-disciplinary methods based on ecological health promotion can achieve systemic changes to improve food security, public health status and also contribute socio-economic development.

Communities of Practice are sites of social learning for the co-production of knowledge. Building on recent literature on Transdisciplinary Communities of Practice, this article reflects on the experiences of an emergent ‘Food Governance Community of Practice’ in South Africa that brings together multiple stakeholders to co-produce knowledge to inform local food policy and governance. Our results show the following lessons for managers and participants engaged in establishing similar ‘third spaces’ for knowledge co-production: 1) make inevitable power asymmetries explicit; 2) the identity of the group should not be built on a particular normative position but emerge from discursive processes and 3) create a balance between supporting peripheral learning and maintaining the specialist cutting edge discussions needed for co-production. Furthermore, the most beneficial legacy of a Community of Practice may not be the outputs in terms of the co-produced knowledge but the development of a cohesive group of stakeholders with a new shared way of knowing.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high and increasing rates of diet-related diseases. This situation is associated with a loss of food sovereignty and an increasing reliance on nutritionally poor food imports. A policy goal, therefore, is to improve local diets through improved local production of nutritious foods. Our aim in this study was to develop methods and collect preliminary data on the relationships between where people source their food, their socio-demographic characteristics and dietary quality in Fiji and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in order to inform further work towards this policy goal. We developed a toolkit of methods to collect individual-level data, including measures of dietary intake, food sources, socio-demographic and health indicators. Individuals aged ≥15 years were eligible to participate. From purposively sampled urban and rural areas, we recruited 186 individuals from 95 households in Fiji, and 147 individuals from 86 households in SVG. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to investigate associations. The mean dietary diversity score, out of 10, was 3.7 (SD1.4) in Fiji and 3.8 (SD1.5) in SVG. In both settings, purchasing was the most common way of sourcing food. However, 68% (Fiji) and 45% (SVG) of participants regularly (>weekly) consumed their own produce, and 5% (Fiji) and 33% (SVG) regularly consumed borrowed/exchanged/bartered food. In regression models, independent positive associations with dietary diversity (DD) were: borrowing/exchanging/bartering food (β = 0.73 (0.21, 1.25)); age (0.01 (0.00, 0.03)); and greater than primary education (0.44 (0.06, 0.82)). DD was negatively associated with small shop purchasing (−0.52 (95% CIs −0.91, −0.12)) and rural residence (−0.46 (−0.92, 0.00)). The findings highlight associations between dietary diversity and food sources and indicate avenues for further research to inform policy actions aimed at improving local food production and diet.

Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.

In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanisation and food systems change contribute to rapid dietary transitions promoting obesity. It is unclear to what extent these changes are mediated by neighbourhood food environments or other factors. This paper correlates neighbourhood food provision with household consumption and poverty in Khayelitsha, South Africa and Ahodwo, Ghana. Georeferenced survey data of food consumption and provision were classified by obesity risk and protection. Outlets were mapped, and density and distribution correlated with risk classes. In Khayelitsha, 71% of households exceeded dietary obesity risk thresholds while 16% consumed protective diets. Obesogenic profiles were less (26%) and protective more prevalent (23%) in Ahodwo despite greater income poverty in Khayelitsha. Here, income-deprived households consumed significantly (p < 0.005) less obesogenic and protective diets. Small informal food outlets dominated numerically but supermarkets were key household food sources in Khayelitsha. Although density of food provision in Ahodwo was higher (76/km2), Khayelitsha outlets (61/km2) provided greater access to obesogenic (57% Khayelitsha; 39% Ahodwo) and protective (43% Khayelitsha; 16% Ahodwo) foods. Consumption and provision profiles correlate more strongly in Ahodwo than Khayelitsha (rKhayelitsha = 0.624; rAhodwo = 0.862). Higher obesogenic food consumption in Khayelitsha suggests that risky food environments and poverty together promote obesogenic diets.

This study described food security status and explored coping mechanisms of students at times of food insecurity at the University of the Witwatersrand. The sample consisted of 387 undergraduate students from all faculties and a subsample of 30 students who received financial aid. The 30 subsample students were also assessed regarding their coping strategies. Action research approaches included key indicators such as the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), and the Dietary Diversity Score (DDS). The HFIAS score showed that 1% of students was severely food insecure and 6% were identified as moderately food insecure. The DDS score amongst the sample was seven out of a possible 12 points. African male students originating from townships who were on financial aid and did not eat in university dining halls were the most vulnerable group to food insecurity. Almost all (97%) participants believed hunger could impact negatively on academic performance and 52% reported having personally experienced the impact of hunger on academic performance. Food security coping strategies used by students were avoiding expensive fast-food places; food pooling, shared meal preparation schedules; eating fewer meals and going home to get food. Wits should develop effective strategies to address pockets of hunger and food insecurity.