The Political Economy of Hunger in South Africa: Theoretical Perspectives from the South

Abstract

Post-apartheid South Africa is burdened with inequality, poverty and food insecurity. This paper seeks to answer the following question: How can agriculture in South Africa be transformed to ensure democratisation of the food regime for poor households (defined as the lower 50 per cent of the population)? In 2008, South Africa moved from being a net exporter of food to a net importer of food. Recent global trends have inflated food prices, exacerbating household hunger, poverty and inequality. The paper relies on methodological approaches sourced from international databases like the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the World Bank. The author takes cognisance of the fact that both institutions advance ideological positions that are not sustained in the paper. However, using this data debunks the ideational position that has been sustained. The author argues that South Africa’s quest for a democratic food regime is ideational, which requires agrarian reforms that challenge both the domestic and the global agricultural capitalist architecture, which will inevitably lead to transformation of power and social relations. Central to this argument is challenging the colonial modalities of land as ‘property’ to an African perspective of land as collective commons.