Investigation of the food security situation and food consumption patterns in Grassland Phase 4 informal settlement in Mangaung, South Africa
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Date
2022
Authors
Louw, Malessa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
The current food system must provide adequate access to nutritious food for people
in poor communities. An inadequate food system can contribute to food insecurity and
malnutrition affecting low-income households. Poverty in informal settlements
(townships) is the main cause of the lack of physical and economic access to nutritious
food. Challenges such as long distances to grocery shops, transport problems,
increased inflation rates, low incomes, unemployment, and inadequate information
about nutritious food mean that the food system needs to become more effective in
distributing adequate food. Many low-income households rely on cheap and nutrientpoor
cereals such as bread, maize flour, and rice without adding many other nutrientrich
food groups to their meals.
The objective of this study was to investigate the food security and consumption habits
of households in Grassland Phase 4 informal settlement in Mangaung. The study
looked at preparation and consumption patterns, coping strategies, access to water
sources, location of food purchases, total household income, and household transport.
Challenges in the food system prevent adequate access to food, making households
in informal settlements such as Grassland Phase 4 vulnerable to food insecurity and
poor consumption patterns.
The research design is quantitative, with a descriptive and exploratory approach. The
sample size was 300, with compensation for incomplete questionnaires. In this study,
a structured questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions was used to collect
the required data. In this study, the software program EvaSys© was used to compile
and construct the questionnaire. The HFIAS score, HFIAP indicator, and CSI score
were used to determine the level of food insecurity. In this study, the FCS method was
used to determine dietary diversity and frequency of food groups consumed. SPSS
version 25 was used for basic descriptive statistics. The data collected were presented
as frequencies and percentages in tables and graphs for each categorical question.
Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated in this study using the
scaled data. The results of the study show that 54% of the respondent population was female, and
78.5% of the household heads were in a productive and economically active age group
of 21 to 59 years. Only 27.9% of the respondents had tertiary education. Most (73.8%)
of the respondents occupied a shack or informal dwelling. The main income of the
household came from social benefits (51.4%) and old age pensions (45.5%). The
results showed that 4.7% of the households had an income of less than R1000 per
month.
In addition, 19.4% of the households had no electricity and used a paraffin cooker to
prepare meals. Many (66.8%) of the respondents used a minibus taxi for grocery
shopping. The study found that 54.1% of households needed access to a water source
for cooking. The HFIAS score of 3.32 showed that households had a medium level of
food insecurity. The HFIAP category showed that 49.9% of households were food
insecure, of which 17.8% were severely food insecure. These households went to bed
hungry and sometimes had nothing to eat for a whole day. The CSI score of 41.8
indicates a moderate level of food insecurity. The FCS value of 31 indicates that the
status of food security in Grassland Phase 4 is borderline (acceptable). This study thus
shows that households are experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity and are
consuming only certain major food groups. This study shows that the most consumed
cereal was maize flour and the least consumed was whole grains. A process such as
nixtamalization, which increases the nutritional value of maize, is essential for
households where maize is consumed as a staple food, as maize contains little fibre
and other nutritional components.
Description
Dissertation (M.Sc.(Consumer Science))--University of the Free State, 2022
Keywords
Food system, food access, food security, food insecurity, informal
settlements, townships, hunger, poverty, households, food consumption, food preparation, dietary diversity