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An Analysis of Variance of Food Security by its Main Determinants Among the Urban Poor in the City of Tshwane, South Africa

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Abstract

This paper discusses households’ food insecurity among low income, poor urban households in and around the City of Tshwane, South Africa’s capital city. Using systematic random sampling with sampling interval of three, primary data were collected from 900 selected households, though only data from 827 households were analyzed following a rigorous coherence tests. The survey was conducted in Attridgeville, Soshanguve, and Tembisa. In the process, the study employed the use of two-way analyses of variance to explain differences between actual and expected household food security perceptions and those of severe, moderate and mild food insecurity. A favourable (adverse) variance could be interpreted to imply that means for achieving household food security are lower (higher) than predicted or that food security is higher (lower) than expected given the same level of main determinants. The observed variance is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups experiencing favourable (adverse) variances are equal. The main findings are that variances in the population means of households’ experiences of food insecurity vary by income class of the head of household, engagement in formal or informal income sources and by categories of social grants received. Poorer households that depend largely on cash income for food purchases experience highest food security variances and those receiving state pension. As such, timely receipt of household income under conditions of unimpeded access to social grants will improve urban poor households’ food security. The level of educational attainment has a very strong impact on a household’s food security. Those with “no schooling” have the lowest level of food security. Experiencing high variances in access to child grants, and low incomes, younger female household heads experience the highest degree of variances in food security and should be particularly targeted in an effective food security policy plan. Negative food security variance among these categories of South Africans could be devastating.

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Notes

  1. Other authors have used short and medium term recall periods such as 24 h (Maxwell & Caldwell 2008) and seven days (Kennedy et al. 2011).

    • As at January 2017, to qualify for a disability grant, an applicant must be a South African citizen or permanent resident or refugee and living in South Africa at the time of application;

    • be between 18 and 59 years old;

    • not be cared for in a state institution;

    • have a 13-digit, bar-coded identity document (ID);

    • not earn more than R69,000 per year if single or R 138,000 per year if married;

    • not have assets worth more than R990,000 if single or R1,980,000 if married;

    • undergo a medical examination where a doctor appointed by the state will assess the degree of disability;

    • bring along any previous medical records and reports when making the application and when the assessment is done;

    • The report is valid for three months from the date one is assessed, after which the process is repeated.

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  1. Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Oludele Akinloye Akinboade & Segun Adeyemi Adeyefa

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  1. Oludele Akinloye Akinboade
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Correspondence to Oludele Akinloye Akinboade.

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Akinboade, O.A., Adeyefa, S.A. An Analysis of Variance of Food Security by its Main Determinants Among the Urban Poor in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Soc Indic Res 137, 61–82 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1589-1

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