Correlates of access to ICT and food security of the poor in South Africa’s Soshanguve

Abstract

This study discusses access to information and communication technology (ICT) in the context of food security in Soshanguve, a slum area of The City of Tshwane, the administrative Capital of South Africa. City dwellers access food from retail outlets in a country where dispatching food is a lucrative business. Hence, food price increases pose challenges to urban households. The public broadcaster (i.e., South African Broadcasting Corporation, other private television stations (eTV, eNCA, and radio stations broadcast food marketing information through eleven official languages. Digital food marketing through cellular phone networks is also on the rise. ICT is a potential tool in the fight against food insecurity and hunger, since its use and range of application continue to grow at astonishing rates. Using questions contained in the USAID developed Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), questionnaires were administered to 300 randomly selected households in Soshanguve. Respondents were asked of their experiences of food insecurity (access) with a recall period of four weeks (30 days). Food secure households can utilise ICT tools in any manner to meet their food security needs. Our study finds that ICT access is positively associated with household food security. Transactional purchases of items on credit using cellular or landline telephony are, in particular, important in enhancing food security. Otherwise, households could beg for or borrow food from neighbours. Only the educated in Soshanguve purchase food items online by using computer access. Younger, single, educated, employed individuals mostly use ICT to advance the course of their food security.