Abstract

South Africa is experiencing rapid increase in food prices while household income is increasing at a slower rate. This antagonistic state has positioned ordinary South Africans, at present struggling to meet their basic household requirements, more vulnerable to food security. The objectives of the study were to determine factors that affect household access to enough food in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and to determine the role played by agriculture and fisheries in enhancing household access to enough food. Data were collected from 159 households using a questionnaire as the main instrument. Most households interviewed were male headed (50.3%). Unemployment level was high with 73.6% of the interviewed household heads being unemployed. On average, households had five members and range from 1 to 13. The average age of household heads was 59 years.  Most of the household heads owned home gardens and had access to arable land though the majority did not cultivate their land (83%). Poultry and livestock production were practiced by 61.6 and 52.8% of the households, respectively. Government grants were the main source of income for the majority of households. The mean household income for all households was ZAR2 987. From the 159 respondents only 29 had access to enough food. Access to enough food was affected by gender of head of household, household size, education level of household head, agricultural training, poultry production and monthly total income. Most of the interviewed households depend mostly on food purchases rather than own production. This therefore mean that the people in the area to do not explore agriculture up to its potential.

Key words: Food security, garden, household, income, land access, livestock.