Consumption of Indigenous and Traditional Food Crops: Perceptions and Realities from South Africa

Abstract Strategies adopted to address ongoing food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition, particularly in developing countries, narrow the food supply base by using technological options that neglect indigenous and traditional food crop systems. These crops are commonly being labeled as “poor people's food” by South African consumers. The question that arises is whether this categorization is justified and what interventions are needed to unlock the potential of these crops in improving household food security levels. Survey data of 600 African households in the North West Province of South Africa was used for the analysis of the consumption patterns of several traditional and indigenous food crops. The results show that the link between income and the consumption of these food crops is more nuanced. Keywords: South Africaindigenous and traditional food cropsconsumption patternsfood security Notes 1. Indigenous and traditional food crops are defined in this study as vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains that are native to the region and / or that are consumed linked to culture and heritage. 2. Rural is defined as an area with formal and informal housing settlements that fall outside legally proclaimed urban areas, and include commercial farms, small settlements, and rural villages. 3. Urban is defined as an area with formal and informal housing settlements within the boundaries of a city or town and that has been legally proclaimed as such. 4. This random selection was assured by instructing the fieldworkers to survey no more than four households per street and to subsequently survey the third house on the left-hand side of the street and then the third house on the right-hand side of the street. 5. The Levene's test for equality of variances was performed to determine whether the conventional Independent T test or the Welch's T test was appropriate. 6. According to the quartiles of the survey population. 7. Only the 10 most commonly consumed ITFCs (see also Figure 2) were considered in this analysis.