In South Africa today, approximately 11 million people in 2.8 million households are food insecure - that is at least one in every five South Africans. The Food Security Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier this year ranks South Africa 40th out of 105 countries in terms of food security. In a world of plenty, this is unacceptable. Almost 9 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in South Africa alone, the large majority of which didn't even make it to market thanks to weak distribution mechanisms.
The Department of Agriculture has spent R5bn since 2004 on small scale farming, but commercial agriculture (40,000 black and white farmers) still accounts for 95% of South Africa's production. Internationally, small scale farmers provide, on average, 60% of production. A further R808.5m of the government's budget is apparently to be allocated to President Jacob Zuma's Mangaung war-chest through the Masibambisane Rural Development Initiative - where government uses communal land to plant and harvest maize. But no credible business plan exists for this initiative.
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