National Food and Nutrition Security Survey kicks off in Gauteng

Phase three of the National Food and Nutrition Security Survey (NFNSS) is currently underway in Pretoria.

This is a household-based survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).

Government uses the contents of the survey to guide the effective planning and deployment of resources for food production.

It also gives leaders a window into food security in poorer households.

How it works:

For this ground-breaking survey, HSRC fieldworkers in various districts will visit the households to conduct interviews in local languages using a questionnaire to gather information.

The study targets at least 49 210 households across all 52 districts of South Africa in all nine provinces. 

Over 100 000 people are expected to participate in the survey. 

These include the head of the household and/or the person responsible for food procurement and food preparation. 

Other participants will include children under the age of 5 years and biological mothers of children in this age group. 

The three phases

Phase one of the survey began in 2021, in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces.

Phase two started in February this year and took gathered information from homes in the Free State and Northern Cape and will conclude surveys in the Western Cape by the end of this month.

Phase three covers Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. 

Survey objectives

The objectives of the survey are to provide a baseline assessment of the food security and nutrition situation in households by focusing on: 

• Food availability at household level
• Food access
• Food utilisation, through determining food consumption and compiling anthropometric measurements of household members (height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) etc.) 
• Food stability, through assessing household food stability with respect to the food supply, food price changes, shocks and household coping mechanisms 

The survey will analyse the link between food security and nutrition, by assessing the reasons for household vulnerability to hunger and poor nutrition, including the impact of Covid-19. 

Survey results will determine policy recommendations and options for targeted food and nutrition security interventions. 

South Africa’s first in-depth food security survey

According to the study’s principal investigator, the HSRC’s Dr Thokozani Simelane, the survey is South Africa’s first in-depth, country-wide study of food security and nutrition vulnerability. 

It will provide a first step towards the development of a multidimensional index to assess countries’ vulnerability to food insecurity across all four dimensions  (food availability, access, utilisation and stability). 

“The survey is meant to be a national ’village-based‘ assessment and ’household-based‘ survey,” said Simelane.

The information will provide data at district and, where possible, municipal level for the highest precision required to measure the severity of food insecurity to support evidence-based decision making and planning. 

“Data will be collected across the country from selected households in rural and urban areas,” explained Simelane. 

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney

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