AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY AMONG FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The importance of food security at household level has been identified as one of the important priorities globally. The second sustainable development goal (SDG2) involves dealing with hunger and food insecurity to the extent that no one goes to bed with an empty stomach. The literature shows that female-headed households, which in most cases are single-parent households - unless the de-facto head principle is, and a woman is a head with a man present- are the most vulnerable households in terms of both poverty and food security. The paper intends to investigate the extent of food insecurity among female-headed households in South Africa using the 2018 General Household Survey (GHS) that collected data from all the nine provinces in the country. The paper employs both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics with a regression model estimated to determine the household factors that are significant determinants of food security at household level among the female-headed household. The apriori expectation is that age, race, income and size of the household will be among the important determinants of food security. The study will also check if those that are receiving a grant are better off than those that do not receive one. The results of the paper will help policy makers to have a more focused approach in dealing with food insecurity at household level.

Keywords:

Female-headed households, food insecurity, general household survey SDGs,

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