Food (in)security, the moral economy, and Ubuntu in South Africa: a Southern perspective

Abstract

COVID-19 and rising energy costs have highlighted the interconnectedness of class, gender, race, and food insecurity. This article focuses on three interrelated arguments: the paradox of growing food surpluses alongside hunger and malnutrition; the role of a reconfigured Ubuntu philosophy; and two organisations that, despite central government’s failure to prioritise food provision as a moral and human rights issue, are operationalising Ubuntu. Critical re-appraisal of Ubuntu regarding food insecurity has been a neglected area of research. In drawing from the moral economy, we make an urgent case for a Southern perspective of Ubuntu as a more nuanced, dynamic, and holistic approach for addressing excess food production and indigence. Using qualitative analysis to examine community projects in South Africa, namely, Abalimi Bezekhaya in the Eastern and Western Cape and Siyavuna Abalimi in KwaZulu-Natal, Ubuntu is shown to offer a radical solution where collective structural organisation is sensitive to nutritional needs and grounded on communal responsibility rather than profits.

Keywords:

• food insecurity
• moral economy
• Ubuntu
• South Africa
• community food systems
• social transformation

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the late Burjor Avari with whom I had extensive discussions on this study. Terri Lituchy, Stella Nkomo, Nceku Nyathi, ‘PD’ Rwelamila, Ahmed Bawa, Keith Gibbard, Cathy Urquhart, Hamed El-Said, and Hussein Abdou made significant comments at various stages of the development of this article. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu and Edith Phaswana were also instrumental in re-shaping this article. Mama Tenjiwe Christina Kaba, Rob Small, Nomvuyi Sukantaka, Sonja Pithey, Oxolo Mofokeng and Charmaine Wagenaar facilitated fieldwork and provided many insights into the projects. Patricia Agupusi, Patricia Ayers, Nicoletta Di Ciolla, David Walsh, Jabavu Nkomo, Jonathan Grix and Anand Sheombar commented on different drafts of this article. My thanks also go to three anonymous reviewers and the editor for their detailed comments that helped to tighten the argument. Any remaining errors are mine.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tidings P. Ndhlovu

Dr. Tidings Ndhlovu is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa. His research is on globalisation; entrepreneurship; inequality and poverty; Corporate Social Responsibility; Global Value Chains; migration and human settlements in South Africa; artisanal and small-scale production in Sub-Saharan Africa; and Africa-China relations.