Research Proposal Presentation Title

An Examination of the Causes of Food insecurity in South Africa

Student researchers

Jiemiao Shen, Paul Han, Xiaoqing Xu

What is your research question?

What are the causes of food insecurity in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of South Africans?

Research proposal keywords or concepts

Food insecurity, Causes of Starvation, South African

How would you summarize your proposed research idea?

Our research idea is based on one of the UN's sustainable development goals which is "Zero Hunger." The research aims to investigate the causation of food insecurity in South African communities. We plan to conduct a quantitative research by using questionnaires for the South African people. We will examine the correlations between our main variables: changes in household income and frequency of hunger.

Where is the literature gap and how does your proposed research attempt to fill that gap?

In literature review, there is a relatively small amount that discusses the issue of food insecurity during Covid-19 on the local scale. A majority of the pre-existing research emphasized on the statistics of the general population and neglected the individuals’ experiences and thoughts. Our research aims to investigate this issue from the perspective of those who are experiencing the issue.

Why is this gap worthy of research?

This gap is worthy of research as investigating this gap will offer us an understanding of the issue from a new perspective. Studying only the general statistics ignores what the local people experience and need, and studying the problem from their perspective would allow more aspects to be considered.

What future change could this research possibly contribute to, related to sustainability?

Solving the problem of food insecurity is inextricably linked to the sustainable development of the whole human society and economy. During the pandemic time, the problem may become severer. Only with the sustainable development of food safety can people have the energy to support society and the economy.

What made your group interested in and/or what excites you about your proposed topic?

Among the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the second goal is to improve the sustainability of hunger, which is an essential goal for human beings. We thought that people may get food every day, but the quality is different in unique places. This has aroused our attention. In some developing countries, such as South Africa, it is difficult to acquire sufficient food, especially during the COVID-19 times. People may be significantly impacted by the pandemic and do not have sufficient access to food. Thus, we would like to explore the causes of food insecurity in South Africa.

References

Africa, S. (2019). The extent of food security in South Africa. Retrieved from http://www.statssa.gov.za /?p=12135Butcher, L. M., O’Sullivan, T. A., Ryan, M. M., Lo, J., & Devine, A. (2018).

Utilising a multi‐item questionnaire to assess household food security in Australia. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 30(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.61

Erokhin, V. (2017). Factors influencing food markets in developing countries: An approach to assess sustainability of the food supply in Russia. Sustainability, 9(8),1313. Retrieved from: https://search-proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1939769828?accountid=14656&pq-origsite=summon

Masa R., Khan, Z., & Chowa, G. (2020). Youth food insecurity in Ghana and South Africa: Prevalence, socioeconomic correlates, and moderation effect of gender. https://doi.org/ 10.1016 /j.childyouth. 2020.105180

Marie, T. A. , Stephen, G. , Mafaniso, H. , Sharon, F. , Andries, D. , & David, S. . (2018). Improving policy coherence for food security and nutrition in south africa: a qualitative policy analysis. Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 10.

Swinnen, J., & McDermott, J. (2020). Covid‐19 and Global Food Security. EuroChoices.