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Confronting Food Insecurity: a Kitchen Garden Project in Imbabazane, South Africa

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Confronting Food Insecurity: a Kitchen Garden Project in Imbabazane, South Africa Confronting Food Insecurity: A Kitchen Garden Project in Imbabazane, South Africa Annie Abram, Amy Korngiebel, Mariana Grisales, Noora Marcus, Katherine Radke and Alison Ross The 2013 Practicum in International Affairs aims to address the twin issues of food scarcity and food distribution in two rural communities in South Africa, through the implementation of a kitchen garden program for home-based caregivers of patients living with HIV/AIDS. 2013 Practicum Project: Graduate Program in International Affairs, at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, The New School RWM PIA Spring 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 PART 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW 7 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 7 DELIVERABLES 8 PROJECT SUPERVISOR 8 CLIENT PROFILE 9 PROJECT TEAM 10 STRUCTURE OF REPORT 12 PART 2: METHODOLOGY 13 SURVEY 13 PRIMARY RESEARCH 14 FOCUS GROUP AND INTERVIEWS 14 MAPPING 16 PART 3: BACKGROUND 18 SECTION 3.1 IMBABAZANE PROFILE 18 SECTION 3.2 FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTH AFRICA 19 SECTION 3.3 AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA 21 SECTION 3.4 HIV/AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA 26 SECTION 3.5 HOME-BASED CARE 30 SECTION 3.6 INTERSECTION BETWEEN FOOD SECURITY, HIV/AIDS AND AGRICULTURE 34 SECTION 3.7 KITCHEN GARDENS AND PERMACULTURE 37 SECTION 3.8 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 41 PART 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS 40 SECTION 4.1 SURVEY 40 4.1.1 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE 42 4.1.2 HBCS AND CCGS 43 4.1.3 AGRICULTURE 46 4.1.4 FENCING 51 4.1.5 WATER 53 4.1.6 LIVESTOCK 57 4.1.7 TRAINING 60 4.1.8 HEALTH 61 SECTION 4.2 FOCUS GROUP 62 SECTION 4.3 INTERVIEWS 66 Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 PART 5: RECOMMENDATIONS 73 SECTION 5.1 CAPACITY BUILDING 73 SECTION 5.2 UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP 75 SECTION 5.3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING AND EVALUATION 76 SECTION 5.4 FOOD SHARING AND DISTRIBUTION 87 SECTION 5.5 KNOWLEDGE SHARING 90 SECTION 5.6 PERMACULTURE 92 SECTION 5.7 TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS 94 SECTION 5.8 NEXT PIA 98 CONCLUSION 100 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 101 REFERENCES 102 PART 6: APPENDICES 108 Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 Acronyms KZN KwaZulu-Natal RWM Rural Women’s Movement GPIA Graduate Program in International Affairs PIA Practicum in International Affairs HBC Home-based caregiver CCG Community caregiver ARV Anti-Retroviral Medication UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal M&E Monitoring and Evaluation GM Genetically Modified IFSS Integrated Food Security Strategy SASSA South African Social Security Agency ACFS African Center for Food Security All photographs in the report were taken by Amy Korngiebel, Noora Marcus, Katherine Radke and Alison Ross during field research in Imbabazane from March 26 – April 3, 2013. All maps in the report were created by Katherine Radke and Mariana Grisales Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Food Security and HIV/AIDS are both problems experienced globally. In rural settings in particular and at the household level specifically, these problems are drastic and devastating. In Imbabazane, a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, food insecurity and HIV/AIDS prevalence are among the highest in the country. Individuals are struggling with persistent hunger, poverty and illness. The Rural Women’s Movement (RWM) is a rural non-profit organization based in KZN that works with approximately 50,000 individuals, mainly women. It aims to address socio-economic, legal and political issues at the community and local level and advocates reform with respect to women’s legal rights to land. The organization is increasingly focused on food security, and wishes to implement a kitchen garden program to help confront the communities’ risk to food insecurity. In 2012, RWM formed a relationship with the Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA) at The New School to receive help developing a food security program for the organization. In 2012 a team from The New School worked with RWM on a comprehensive food security project. Their final report included research on food security at the national and provincial levels and provided recommendations for increasing the organizational capacity of RWM. In 2013, a new GPIA team worked with RWM on developing a kitchen garden project in two communities, uMqedandaba and eNyezane, located in the municipality of Imbabazane. This project focuses on the intersection between HIV/AIDS and food security at the household level. This document is the final report from the team. This report outlines the background research, in-country fieldwork, findings and recommendations of the team. The team consisted of six graduate students from the GPIA program. All six team members conducted desk research and created a baseline survey. Research conducted by the team focused on food security, HIV and nutrition, permaculture, kitchen gardens and the intersection of all of the above. In addition to desk research, four of the team members conducted one week of fieldwork in the target communities. A baseline survey was used to assess the current agricultural practices and knowledge of community members, as well as identify current agriculture problems faced by the community. In addition to the survey data collection included household interviews, focus groups with community members, and interviews with faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 Through primary and secondary research the team identified several main issues: • Food Scarcity • Food Distribution • Knowledge Sharing • Diversity of Diet • Organizational Capacity • Project Planning • Monitoring and Evaluation Primary recommendations include: • RWM should encourage collective and formal food sharing and distribution system. • RWM encourage a system that facilitates sharing of technical knowledge. • RWM should build on the relationship the team established with the African Center for Food Security at the University of KZN. • RWM needs staff dedicated specifically to community-level food security projects. • RWM should implement a formalized and systematic planning of projects from start to finish. • RWM should cultivate relationships with local organizations that address the technical constraints of the area, such as water access. • RWM should be careful not to overstate the ability of permaculture to overcome a lack of infrastructure and social and financial constraints. • RWM should also encourage monitoring and evaluation on the local and participatory level. Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 PART 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW Project Description This project is part of The New School Practicum in International Affairs (PIA). The PIA is a consultancy opportunity with an internationally based client for students in the Graduate Program in International Affairs. This project aims to confront hunger and malnutrition in the Loskop region in Imbabazane, a municipality in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. RWM has identified the villages of uMqedandaba and eNyezane, as needing a project to improve access to food. Specifically the project is working with a group of approximately 80 home-based caregivers (HBCs), women who care for people living with HIV/AIDS. In 2012, Audrey, a home-based caregiver in uMqedandaba contacted RWM and reported that she had lost 8 friends in the past year. These friends were living with HIV/AIDS and were forced to stop taking their ARV medication because they did not have enough food, and were not able to tolerate the harsh side effects of ARVs when taken on an empty stomach. RWM has requested a kitchen garden program that utilizes permaculture design as a strategic point of intervention for this project to address the issue of hunger in these two communities. In rural communities such as uMqedandaba and eNyezane where market, income, and resource access is scarce, kitchen gardens are an optimal way to increase food supply (Murphy 2008). Audrey, uMqedandaba Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 This project aims to ameliorate the inadequate food supply in the two communities with the goal to enhance nutrition and allow people living with HIV/AIDS to resume their HIV drug regimens. Specifically the project is working with the home-based caregivers with the rationale that if RWM can empower the home-based caregivers, they can in turn empower and help the patients. Food security and HIV/AIDS are global and national epidemics with social, political and economic implications, but are experienced by individuals at the household level. Home gardens are one method of addressing these two pandemics on the household level, but unfortunately very little research has been devoted to examining the opportunities and challenges of kitchen gardens. This report seeks to expand the research on kitchen gardens as a tool to address food security and HIV/AIDS. Deliverables This project has evolved over the course of the year. Specifically our deliverable changed. At the start of the project, our deliverable was to design a pilot kitchen garden design. However, when four team members traveled to South Africa in March 2013, critical new information was discovered that led to a change in our deliverable. New information included: • All project participants currently have a kitchen garden. • There are two groups of home-based caregivers, compensated and volunteer. • RWM is working with two communities, not just one. • A permaculture training was set to occur two days after the team departed from South Africa. Due to these discoveries, the team deliverable to RWM is to design a monitoring and evaluation tool for project planning and implementation. Project Supervisor Chris London, GPIA faculty served as project supervisor and advisor, and Klara Ibarra, GPIA alumna served as our permaculture consultant and RWM liaison. Confronting Food Insecurity RWM PIA Spring 2013 Client Profile The Rural Women’s Movement (RWM) is an independent non-profit organization that operates in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, South Africa. It was founded and is currently directed by Sizani Ngubane. The organization works to strengthen women’s status within their communities with programs and projects that target gender inequality.
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