Gendered effects of land access and ownership on food security in rural settings in South Africa

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Sustainable Food Systems

Zinhle Mthembu¹  Mfundo Mandla Masuku²  Victor H. Mlambo³ 

[1] Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa;School of Built Environment and Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa;School of Built Environment and Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa;Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa;

关键词: food security;    food insecurity;    land access;    rural areas;    women;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fsufs.2023.1158946

 received in 2023-02-04, accepted in 2023-08-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

South Africa is one of the many countries that experience critical challenges regarding land issues, with rural women in particular having limited access to and ownership of land. This paper argues that land inaccessibility for women contributes significantly to their deprivation of economic opportunities. Secondary data on women and land ownership were extracted from main sources such as peer-reviewed articles and government gazettes. In the execution of this study, a comprehensive literature review (CLR) was conducted to illuminate the topic under investigation. The three phases (the exploration phase, the interpretative phase, and the communicative phase) of the comprehensive literature review method were adopted. The result of the review suggests that the gendered nature of land distribution contributes to the phenomenon of food insecurity that faces numerous women and their households in rural areas. The customary law is a key institutional factor that poses challenges for rural women in acquiring equal access to land ownership compared to men. The study recommends that the South African government should formulate better land policies that provide equal access to and ownership of land for both men and women.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Masuku, Mthembu and Mlambo.