This issue of Development Southern Africa offers a cluster of perspectives on the broad theme of food, agriculture and land and water resources in the southern African region – empirical contributions that will help researchers and policy-makers contextualise arguments and formulate policy proposals with greater insight.
Four papers address topics of food and nutrition. Shackleton et al. discuss the role of agriculture in the lives of urban dwellers. Cultivating indigenous African vegetables fulfils dietary needs, boosts household food security and, for an increasing number of these farmers, brings in extra income. However, while these supplements are important for nutrition and dietary diversity, maize is still the staple food of poor households in South Africa. Duvenage et al. examine the perceptions and values that guide low-income consumers' choices of maize meal, and Nyanzi et al. describe their study of the consumer acceptability of a synbiotic version of the maize beverage mageu, which could be a healthy and affordable alternative to dairy products.
The acceptability of genetically modified crops is a topic currently dominating food policy debates in many African countries. South Africa, the only one that allows the production and trade of genetically modified (GM) crops, has a well-developed policy and regulatory framework for the trade and marketing of these crops. Gruere and Sengupta offer policy recommendations that could help South Africa adapt to global changes, contain risks and at the same time benefit from promising new GM technologies.
Policy debates in agricultural development in Africa will always take into account the survival struggles of the continent's millions of smallholder farmers. Much effort in the form of programmes and donor funds has been devoted to modernising, improving and expanding smallholder agriculture or bringing it into the mainstream – with limited success. Two papers consider the lot of these farmers. Kimhi describes the successes of a revitalising and modernising project in formerly war-torn Angola, and Matchaya highlights the strengths and weaknesses of a national smallholder association in Malawi.
Access to resources, particularly land and water, is key for rural communities' survival and empowerment in southern Africa. Four papers consider these questions. The land crisis in Zimbabwe is the topic of the paper by Bromley and Chavunduka, which incisively recaps the colonial past and unfortunate recent history of that country but also offers innovative suggestions for the future. Ntshona et al. examine disturbing reports of the failing Dwesa-Cwebe land restitution project. Since poor institutional structure in claimant communities and the resulting conflict between beneficiaries has led many such projects to collapse, they call for institutions to be empowered to benefit local livelihoods. The distribution of water in Kgatleng District, Botswana, is the topic of Hillbom's paper, in which she argues that unequal rights to this resource are hampering the development of the country's agricultural sector. Finally, Harmse examines the targeting of South Africa's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP) in 2000 and argues that an inconsistent selection process has excluded some needy rural areas from the ISRDP benefits and included some not in need.