2023 World Food Day Webinar on “Opportunities towards Sustainable Food Security in South African Urban Settings”
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Date
2023
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and Green Youth Network (GYN)
Sponsorship
Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Green Youth Network (GYN)
Abstract
World Food Day (WFD) is celebrated across 150 countries yearly on 16th of October. The theme for 2023 is Water is life, water is food: leave no one behind. The campaign intents to raise awareness worldwide on water as a foundation of life and food. According to the United Nations (UN), 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries (1), while 3.2 billion people live in agricultural areas with high water scarcity (2). These water constraints have a negative impact on food security and nutrition.
In South Africa a notable proportion of the population is food insecure (3) with over 60% of these households located in urban areas. The City of Cape Town (11,6%) and the City of Johannesburg (11,5%) have the highest proportions of households that experienced hunger in all the six metros. Urban food insecurity is characterised by low dietary diversity, high malnutrition and obesity, and distinct hunger seasons. It is estimated that by 2050, eight in 10 people will be living in urban areas, which means that the prevalence of food insecurity within urban Southern African communities will increase. There is therefore an urgent need to develop policies and solutions to address this “looming crisis” and to manage the water-food nexus in a more sustainable and equitable manner.
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and the Green Youth Network (GYN) partnered to host a webinar on the 3 November 2023 to commemorate WFD 2023 titled “Opportunities towards Sustainable Food Security in South African Urban Settings”. The dialogue aimed to explore youth-centric solutions that have a potential to strengthen food security in South African urban surroundings, taking into consideration the challenge of water scarcity while leaving no one behind.
The Webinar featured the following speakers: Prof Marizvikuru Mwale-Manjoro (University of Venda and SAYAS Alumni); Dr Nathaniel Dlamini (Statistics South Africa; Ms Thandeka Nkosi (KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development); and Mr Reuben Riley (Biological Agricultural Era, BioAge). Participants included academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, women, youth, policy makers and the public.
Description
MP4 Video; Size: 347 MB; Duration 11:38:26
Contributor ORCIDs
Mabotha, Tebogo
; Soodyall, Himla ; Mbatha, Hlengiwe ; Mwale-Manjoro ; Marizvikuru ; Dlamini, Nathaniel ; Nkosi, Thembeka ; Riley, Reuben ; Zulu, Sanele Subject
Food insecurity , Urban food security , Water-food nexus , World food day , Food security , SDG 1 , SDG 2 , SDG 6 , SDG 12DOI
Citation
Peer review status
Non-Peer Reviewed