Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa

Michael Rudolph; Evans Muchesa; Florian Kroll

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll

Published in International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 6, Issue 2)

Received: 7 April 2020 Accepted: 6 May 2020 Published: 28 May 2020

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Abstract

Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.

Published in	International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 6, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11
Page(s)	22-29
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Agro-ecology, Food Security, Urban Agriculture, Food Systems, Biodiversity

References

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[3]	Kroll, F. J.; Rudolph, M. J.; Simatele, D. (2015). Gauteng City Region Observatory Food Systems Review Paper (Working Paper Series). Food Security Working Paper 1: A systemic review of food security in the Gauteng City Region. Wits Siyakhana Initiative, a division of the Wits School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies (GAES). Report Submitted June 2015.
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[7]	De Wit, M. P., Blignaut, J. N., Knot, J., Midgley, S., Drimie, S., Crookes, D. J., and Nkambule N. P. 2015. Sustainable farming as a viable option for enhanced food and nutritional security and a sustainable productive resource base. Synthesis report. Green Economy Research Report, Green Fund, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Midrand.
[8]	Béné, C., Oosterveer, P., Lamotte, L., Brouwer, I. D., de Haan, S., Prager, S. D.,... & Khoury, C. K. (2019). When food systems meet sustainability–Current narratives and implications for actions. World Development, 113, 116-130.
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APA Style

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll. (2020). Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 6(2), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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ACS Style

Michael Rudolph; Evans Muchesa; Florian Kroll. Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2020, 6(2), 22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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AMA Style

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll. Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2020;6(2):22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11,
  author = {Michael Rudolph and Evans Muchesa and Florian Kroll},
  title = {Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa},
  journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
  volume = {6},
  number = {2},
  pages = {22-29},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  abstract = {Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa
AU  - Michael Rudolph
AU  - Evans Muchesa
AU  - Florian Kroll
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11
T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JF  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JO  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.
VL  - 6
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Author Information

Michael Rudolph

Centre for Ecological Intelligence, Office of the Vice Chancellor, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Evans Muchesa

Research and Project Development, Siyakhana Growth and Development NPO, Johannesburg, South Africa
Florian Kroll

Research and Project Development, Siyakhana Growth and Development NPO, Johannesburg, South Africa

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll. (2020). Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 6(2), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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ACS Style

Michael Rudolph; Evans Muchesa; Florian Kroll. Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2020, 6(2), 22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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AMA Style

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll. Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2020;6(2):22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11,
  author = {Michael Rudolph and Evans Muchesa and Florian Kroll},
  title = {Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa},
  journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
  volume = {6},
  number = {2},
  pages = {22-29},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20200602.11},
  abstract = {Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Towards an Eco-social Food System: The Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Agro-ecology in South Africa
AU  - Michael Rudolph
AU  - Evans Muchesa
AU  - Florian Kroll
Y1  - 2020/05/28
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11
T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JF  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JO  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
SP  - 22
EP  - 29
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1832
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20200602.11
AB  - Input-intensive industrial-scale production systems are not sustainable means of addressing issues such as food security, nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. Several literatures suggest that the solution to world hunger is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices. There is considerable evidence that supports agro-ecological farming system ss a viable alternative that can improve food production especially for the most vulnerable farming households. In addition, literature shows that an agro-ecology food system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level, as well as reducing the multiple health risks from industrial agriculture. This paper is aimed at discussing the benefits of agro-ecology food system and how agricultural support systems can play a role. The emphasis of the paper is the application of the agro-ecology approach in an urban/ peri-urban setting. An evaluation report of City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Food Resilience Programme Evaluation unpublished report (2016), shows that very few households engage in gardening/ urban agriculture either in their backyards or nearby open spaces due to the following reasons; strict city by-laws, no access to land, no knowledge of innovative/alternative farming practices lack of interest and limited resources.
VL  - 6
IS  - 2
ER  -

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