27
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

South African food resources for the futureFootnote

Pages 199-206 | Published online: 27 Feb 2008
 

Abstract

Internationally, Government action has failed to resolve problems of agriculture, and has proved expensive. Views on the long‐term ability of agriculture to produce sufficient food have varied between optimism and pessimism. Pessimism prevailed in the seventies, but the same period experienced rapid increases in food production, with stocks reaching record volumes by 1986. Food production has outstripped population growth over the long run. Food shortages and famines are caused by distribution problems rather than low aggregate production. Differences in income levels cause problems in the entitlement of poorer people to food. South African agriculture exhibits dualism in production, both in terms of quantities produced and sophistication in the array of foodstuffs produced. Dualism is as prevalent in consumption. In South Africa, some have food in abundance, and others live below the breadline. This is a function of revenue, and has a racial content as well as security implications. South African food industries should cope with dualism by accepting raw materials of differing quality and delivering foodstuffs with differing attributes. This calls for deregulation and a small degree of concentration. Sanctions may aggravate affairs.

Notes

Paper read at the conference of the Techno‐Economic Society of Southern Africa, Pretoria, August 1986.

University of Pretoria.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.