MONITORING SYSTEMS
WANDILE SIHLOBO: Disease outbreaks show food safety underpins security
While affordability and availability have been a key focus following the robust agricultural output, the quality and safety aspects have seldom been mentioned in food security debates
I commended SA’s food security status in my personal blog in February. This was after the Economist Intelligence Unit placed the country in 44th place out of 133 countries in the 2017 Global Food Security Index. SA is essentially the most food-secure country in Africa. Some conflated the blog post with land reform issues, arguing that the proposed expropriation without compensation policy would tamper with the progress made thus far. But my intention was to shed light on the meaning of food security. The index captures the most critical aspects of food security, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN: affordability, availability, quality and safety. While affordability and availability have been a key focus following the robust agricultural output of the 2016-17 production season, the quality and safety aspects have seldom been mentioned in food security debates. This is regrettable as quality and safety are important levers of food security. A case in point ...
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