About the DST-NRF CoE Food Security
The Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Food Security (DST-NRF CoE-FS) was launched on 15 April, 2014 and is co-hosted by the Universities of the Western Cape (UWC) and Pretoria (UP). Centres of Excellence are “…physical or virtual centres of research which concentrate existing capacity and resources to enable researchers to collaborate across disciplines on long-‐term projects that are locally relevant and internationally competitive in order to enhance the pursuit of research excellence and high-‐level capacity development.” (DST-‐NRF, 2012) Food security is part of national government’s comprehensive rural development strategy, a priority area related to land and agrarian reform.
About Food Security
Food security is defined as existing when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1996, Committee on World Food Security 2012). Food insecurity is directly linked to poverty, and manifests in a variety of ways – from long term deprivation to seasonal hunger. Food security is imperative for human survival with dignity and it is achieved through economic vitality, social justice, human health and environmental health. South Africa, like many rapidly developing countries faces a triple burden of malnutrition. This includes underweight (caused by diets of inadequate quantities), malnourishment (arising from diets of inadequate quality) and overweight.
Our People
The CoE-FS is hosted at UWC with Professor Julian May as Director, and Professor Sheryl Hendriks (UP), as Co-Director. It is the first DST--‐NRF Centre of Excellence to be hosted at a historically black university. CoE-FS Director, Professor May is also Director of UWC’s Institute for Development Studies. An expert in Applied Poverty Reduction Assessment, Professor May led the Poverty and Inequality Report, the first review of South Africa's poverty reduction policies in the post--‐ apartheid era. He was the principal researcher for the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Survey --‐ a ten year panel study of poverty dynamics. His research interests include poverty and inequality, agrarian reform, and impact assessment methodologies. He is a Research Associate at the Brooks World Poverty Institute, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Department of Social Policy, Oxford University and the South African Labour and Development Research Unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The Centre’s Co--‐Director, Professor Sheryl Hendriks is also Director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well--‐being, at UP. She is an expert in food security policy, programmes and impact analysis. Her research interests include understanding household food insecurity and hunger and evaluating the impact of interventions to address food insecurity in Africa. Professor Hendriks has a special interest in the identification of food security indicators and institutional arrangements for food policy. She is a member of the Committee on World Food Security High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, has served on three Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme Technical Advisory Committees. A virtual organisation, the Centre is comprised of numerous South African and international institutions, and has over 100 affiliated researchers. In addition to UWC and UP, CoE-FS researchers are drawn from the universities of Cape Town, Fort Hare, Johannesburg, Limpopo, Nelson Mandela, North West, Stellenbosch, and Venda as well as Tshwane University of Technology, the Agricultural Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the Water Research Council. Our international partners are the Australian National University, City University of New York, Institute of Development Studies, International Food Policy Research Institute, Michigan State University and Missouri University. |
Our Goals and Research Questions
The CoE‐FS recognises that producers, processors, distributors and consumers are incorporated into the food system under varying terms and returns. We also recognise the economic, social, human and environmental health impacts associated with food security. Our goal is to conduct research, build capacity and disseminate findings that will promote a sustainable food system in South Africa and our research is concerned with the scale, nature, causes and consequences of food insecurity in South Africa and elsewhere on the African continent. In addition, the CoE‐FS will investigate products, technologies, processes and policies that can reduce food insecurity and mitigate its negative outcomes. We will make a difference to food security by linking innovative science to critical enquiry. During the period 2014-2017, we will address the following research questions: 1. How is the global and national food system changing and how does this affect the sustainability, availability, access and attributes of food? 2. Who are the ‘food insecure’, where are they located, what are their choices, strategies and opportunities when seeking food security, health, and well--‐being and how do these change in response to the changing food system? 3. What policies, technologies, interventions and products enable access to affordable and nutritious food in ecological, economic, social and politically sustainable ways? |