UWCScholar :: Browsing by Author "Greenberg, Stephen"

Browsing by Author "Greenberg, Stephen"

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The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA and the occupation of the Guinea Savannah
(2015) Greenberg, Stephen
The US, EU and African agricultural modernisation G8 New Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN), USAID and US foreign policy AGRA – Gate Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation – philanthro-capitalism Corporate drivers – Monsanto, Syngenta, Yara and many others Gates – Monsanto shares, proprietary (privately-owned) technologies Rockefeller – CGIAR institutions (2nd food regime) World Bank – Guinea Savannah – “600 million ha ripe for commercial farming”
Contesting the food system in South Africa: Issues and opportunities
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Greenberg, Stephen
Rising food prices have become a growing concern globally and in southern Africa. In South Africa, where food availability is not an issue at present, the response has been to try to improve access to food, mostly through the provision of grants and food aid (e.g. school feeding schemes). There is a lesser emphasis on widening the base of food production, since the dominant idea is that the existing system is able to meet food needs. This report widens the debate about food production and distribution in South Africa to consider some of the entrenched power dynamics that shape the way these happen, and to consider whether a more radical transformation of the agro-food system is required to ensure adequate access to food for all.
Contesting the food system in South Africa: issues and opportunities
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Greenberg, Stephen
This report widens the debate about food production and distribution in South Africa to consider some of the entrenched power dynamics that shape the way these happen, and to consider whether a more radical transformation of the agro-food system is required to ensure adequate access to food for all.It considers the structure of the South African agro-food system, and looks at points of possible intervention that could not only open the system to greater involvement by those who have been marginalised or passively incorporated into that system, but that also offer potential pathways to structural change that could deepen diversity in the agro-food system and reorient it to the needs of the poor, both as historically subordinated producers and as consumers.
Corporate concentration and food security in South Africa: is the commercial agro-food system delivering?
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2015) Greenberg, Stephen
Although the current agro-food system in South Africa has the technical and organisational capacity to meet domestic food needs, there are major problems with access to food and with the nutrient content of existing food supplies. The agro-food system is a product of apartheid and, as such, has social inequities built into it. This paper looks briefly at the main points of inequity and reflects on various attempts and proposals to alter the system to reduce social inequity.
Corporate power in the agro-food system and the consumer food environment in South Africa
(Taylor & Francis, 2017) Greenberg, Stephen
This contribution maps the South African agro-food system with a focus on corporate ownership and power, inspired by value chain work applied to the food system as a whole. Corporations tend to dominate some nodes, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots. Other nodes have a corporate core but with a wide number of smaller economic actors, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and consumer food service. This wide number of actors points to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting their economic activities. The paper considers the influence of corporations in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system. The paper concludes with some recommendations for further work.
Corporate power in the agrofood system and South Africa’s consumer food environment
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2016-05) Greenberg, Stephen
This report maps the extent of corporate power in the South African agro-food system using a value chain approach. It identifies major corporate actors in the various nodes of the agro-food system as of 2014. Some nodes tend to be dominated by corporations, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots for commercial livestock. Other nodes have a strong corporate core but there is also a wide periphery, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail and consumer food service. The large periphery of marginalised actors in some parts of the system point to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting economic activity in the periphery. Although there are pockets of concentrated power in the system as a whole, there is also some distribution of power across nodes as well as between commodities. Vertical integration is less prevalent than in the past. The report looks at governance in the food system, the expansion of corporate self-regulation, and the implications for food security and nutrition. Corporations have immense power in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system.
The disjunctures of land and agricultural reform in South Africa: Implications for the agri-food system
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2013-08) Greenberg, Stephen
Land reform was introduced in South Africa in the 1990s to redress the injustices of colonialism and apartheid. But compromises in the transition to democracy saw a trade-off between political participation on one side and continuity in economic structure and ownership on the other. Conflicting policy imperatives led to the subordination of land reform to agricultural restructuring, which was already producing the consolidation of corporate power at the centre of the agri-food system. Key processes included the privatisation of the co-operative infrastructural backbone to produce concentrated agribusinesses throughout the food system, trade liberalisation that benefited some agri-food sectors and saw the decline of others, and foreign investments and acquisitions across the agri-food system – most recently in the Pioneer-Pannar and Walmart- Massmart acquisitions. Despite rhetoric in favour of building small-scale agriculture, neither the land reform programme nor agricultural restructuring processes facilitated the realisation of this objective. Government tailed agribusiness in opting for a contract farming model to integrate selected small-scale black farmers into corporate value chains, which left the fundamental agrarian and agri-food structure intact. Government’s role in providing black farmers with finance, research and development support and extension services remain weak and enhance private control over the overall agri-food system.
Enhancing food and nutrition security in a corporate-dominated food system
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2017) Greenberg, Stephen
South Africa faces a ‘dual burden’ of malnutrition, with persistent under-nutrition coinciding with rising rates of diet-related NCDs (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers). According to a recent national survey, 54% of households nationally reported experiencing either hunger or risk of hunger (Shisana et al., 2013:10). The South African food system is capable of supplying enough food either through production or trade. The main challenge is that many people cannot afford to purchase the food they need. Therefore the focus of efforts to improve food security is on increasing incomes, either through welfare (such as social grants), or through increasing employment or entrepreneurship.
Food trade and investment in South Africa: Improving coherence between economic policy, nutrition and food security
(Food trade and investment in South Africa: Improving coherence between economic policy, nutrition and food security, 2017-12) Thow, Anne Marie; Greenberg, Stephen; Hara, Mafa; Friel, Sharon; du Toit, Andries; Sanders, David
South Africa must address a rising burden of diet-related chronic disease while also continuing to combat persistent food insecurity and undernutrition (Muzigaba et al. 2016). The prevalence of stunting among children in South Africa remains around 25% (Said-Mohamed et al. 2015). At the same time, the prevalence of obesity has risen to 39% among women and 11% among men, and diabetes in the adult population to 10% (Shisana et al. 2014). Addressing this double burden of malnutrition will require a comprehensive policy approach that supports demand for healthy food (including financial access) and its supply. In this paper, we focus on supply side interventions – and particularly, the need for policy across sectors to support availability of affordable, healthy food (Republic of South Africa Department of Health 2013; Government of South Africa 2014). However, growing trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), supported by binding international commitments, present governments with a challenge as they seek to intervene in the food supply to improve diets and health. Government action to regulate the food supply to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods and increase access to healthy foods becomes subject 1) to the influence of powerful investors and other industry actors, and 2) to commitments made in international trade and investment agreements (Baker et al. 2014, Thow and McGrady 2014, Schram et al. 2015, Thow et al. 2015a, Thow et al. 2015b).
Improving policy coherence for food security and nutrition in South Africa: a qualitative policy analysis
(Springer Netherlands, 2018) Thow, Anne Marie; Greenberg, Stephen; Hara, Mafaniso; Friel, Sharon; du Toit, Andries; Sanders, David
Like most other low and middle-income countries, South Africa must address a rising burden of diet-related chronic disease in a situation of persistent food insecurity and undernutrition. Supply-side policy interventions are a critical component of action to address the double burden of malnutrition. However, the food supply is governed by a number of different policy sectors, and policy incoherence can occur between government action to promote a healthy food supply and objectives for economic liberalization. We analysed the coherence of food supply policy content with respect to nutrition and food security in South Africa, and conducted 14 in-depth interviews with 22 public and private sector actors to identify opportunities to improve policy coherence across sectors governing the food supply. Drawing on Sabatier’s conceptualization of actors as influential in shaping policy outcomes, we identified three coalitions of actors related to food security and nutrition in South Africa: the dominant Economic Growth coalition, the Food Security coalition, and the Health coalition. Understanding the frames, beliefs and resources held by these coalitions offers insights into the policy tensions faced by the Government of South Africa with respect to the food supply. The analysis indicates that the current reconsideration of economic policy agendas favouring liberalization in SouthAfrica, including the termination of most bilateral investment treaties, may present an opportunity for increased recognition of food security and nutrition priorities in food supply policy making. Opportunities to strengthen policy coherence across the food supply for food security and nutrition include: specific changes to economic policy relating to the food supply that achieve both food security/nutrition and economic objectives; creating links between producers and consumers, through markets and fiscal incentives that make healthy / fresh foods more accessible and affordable; increasing formal avenues for engagement by Civil Society in nutrition and food security policy making; and including consideration of the nutritional quality of the food supply in policy objectives across sectors, to create a framework for policy coherence across sectors relating to the food supply.
Securing land and resource rights in Africa: Pan-African perspectives
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2004) Alinon, Koffi; Ayeb, Habib; Claassens, Aninka; Cousins, Ben; Greenberg, Stephen; Ismail, Abdel Mawla; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Marongwe, Nelson; Simo, John Mope; Ng’ong’ola, Clement; Odhiambo, Michael; Omoweh, Daniel; Ouédraogo, Hubert; Saruchera, Munyaradzi; Tawfic, Rawia; Wanjala, Smokin
Across the African continent the land and resource rights of the rural poor are threatened by inappropriate policies and institutions (including global treaties); unequal social, political and economic relations; the actions of powerful vested interests (wealthy national or local elites, international aid organisations, multinational corporations); and the weakness of grassroots organisations. It is against this background that the Pan-African Programme on Land and Resource Rights (PAPLRR) Network’s initiative to analyse, understand and engage with these issues was conceptualised by four African centres of excellence that subsequently developed the programme in 2001. The unique contributions Africa can make are seldom taken seriously in international natural resource policymaking debates. One reason could be that the African voice on land and resource rights is perhaps not as strong in international forums as it should be. By coming together in forums such as PAPLRR, Africans are able to share their concerns and develop capacity to articulate their opinions and influence outcomes in the international arena. Defining an agenda for advocacy and strategic engagement with governments, and building links across divides between scholars, practitioners and advocacy groups, is an emphasis of PAPLRR into the future. A key focus of the programme is the role of land and resource rights in the struggle against poverty, exploitation and oppression as well as their contribution in solving real world problems of African people, not as academic objects to be studied, but as key components of the struggle.
Smallholders and agro-food value chains in South Africa: Emerging practices, emerging challenges
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2013) Greenberg, Stephen
A key emerging strand in the development of smallholder agriculture in South Africa is the effort to integrate small-holders into corporate food retail value chains. In this, the private sector and government have a common agenda, which is to build a commercial smallholder class that does not require ongoing financial support for survival, but which is able to stand on its own feet and compete in the market. Both government and the private sector recognise the need for some kind of ‘start-up’ support, and Walmart-Massmart’s recently announced supplier fund will put pressure on other food retailers to deepen their own activities in this regard. The papers in this publication come out of a workshop hosted by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) in Johannesburg in November 2011. The workshop brought together academics, government officials, a few representatives from black smallholder farmers and the private sector, and generated a number of case studies on efforts to integrate smallholders into formal or corporate value chains. A selection of these is included in this publication. They focus on private sector initiatives and raise key issues around who smallholders are and what strategies can be
Smallholders and agro-food value chains in South Africa: Emerging practices, emerging challenges
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2013) Aliber, Michael; Armour, Jack; Chikazunga, Davison; Cousins, Ben; Davis, Nerhene; Greenberg, Stephen; Khumalo, Lusito D; Lewis, Marc; Louw, Andre; Nkomo, Mandla; Paradza, Gaynor
A key emerging strand in the development of smallholder agriculture in South Africa is the effort to integrate smallholders into corporate food retail value chains. In this, the private sector and government have a common agenda, which is to build a commercial smallholder class that does not require ongoing financial support for survival, but which is able to stand on its own feet and compete in the market. Both government and the private sector recognise the need for some kind of ‘start-up’ support, and Walmart-Massmart’s recently announced supplier fund will put pressure on other food retailers to deepen their own activities in this regard.
Status report on land and agricultural policy in South Africa
(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Greenberg, Stephen
A strategy that seeks to insert smallholders into the large-scale, industrial, export-oriented model can only succeed in broadening and diversifying the producer base slightly. The large-scale model also brings with it the deepening problems of concentration in the value chain, which, in turn, entrench the production model. The ANC in government has identified the major contours of the challenge, but its responses tend towards seeking to deracialise that model while keeping its core intact. An alternative has to confront the existing economic power of commercial agriculture and agro-industry with the aim of transforming it in the interests of the poor. Deracialisation is necessary, but is not sufficient to realise this. The logic of a smallholder strategy must be followed beyond the farm gate, to the institutions that support agriculture and the value chains that feed off it.
Status report on land and agricultural policy in South Africa, 2010
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Greenberg, Stephen
Agriculture plays numerous roles in society. The most obvious is to produce food (and, to a lesser extent, fibre). While agriculture is the mainstay of the rural economy, it also shapes social relations and landscapes. In some countries, this is taken as an unmitigated positive. However, in South Africa, agriculture is built on the back of dispossession of the African population and their social, economic and political marginalisation. It is built on extractive methods that deplete the soil, the water and the natural vegetation. Agricultural policy in post-apartheid South Africa must grasp these contradictions, simultaneously strengthening the positive features of agriculture and abolishing those that rely on the immiseration of human beings and the destruction of the environment. Agriculture was not high on the list of priorities for the post-apartheid government. It was one of the sectors that experienced deep cuts in the budget following the demise of apartheid. Only from around 2003 did the budget start climbing again, but the 2011 budget estimates are still below those of the 1980s in real terms. Provincial budgets are stagnating.
Trade and investment in fish and fish products between South Africa and the rest of SADC: Implications for food and nutrition security
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2017-10) Hara, Mafaniso; Greenberg, Stephen; Thow, Anne Marie; Chimarito, Sloans; du Toit, Andries
This paper looks at the dynamics of intra-regional trade and investment in fish and fish products between South Africa and the rest of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, and the implications of this trade for food and nutrition security. It is based on key informant interviews with people in the food industry in South Africa and Africa regional economic bodies. Imports and exports of fish in South Africa are driven by import substitution, shortfalls in local production, and meeting growing local and regional demand. Most South African fish and food processors prefer to export, rather than establish plants in other African countries, mainly due to factors of economic efficiency and the challenges of doing business in these countries. Currently, however, increasing volumes of fish are being imported into South Africa to meet demand from the African migrant community. While self-sufficiency and food sovereignty are acknowledged priorities for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), imports to meet local shortfalls and specific demand ought to be acceptable options for ensuring fish food availability and affordability. The reduction or removal of tariffs, through regional free trade agreements, promotes increased intra-regional trade. Overall, imports and exports provide for demand-led exchange of fish between SADC states, which promotes increased availability and affordability of fish; thereby contributing towards food and nutrition security. However, despite regional free trade agreements that have stipulated the removal of both technical and non-technical barriers, most small-scale traders still experience problems in conducting cross-border trade. The majority of people in both South Africa and the SADC still rely heavily on the informal sector for conduct business and buying food provisions. This includes cross-border fish trade, which is dominated by small scale-traders, the majority of whom are women. The informal sector ensures that food reaches most people in an acceptable state, form and price. In order to promote and facilitate improved and efficient fish trade delivery systems and positive benefits for food security and livelihoods, governance of crossborder trade ought to be based on flexible regulations and improved implementation of these.
Trade, food and nutrition security in South Africa: The cases of sugar and poultry
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2017-10) Greenberg, Stephen; Thow, Anne Marie; Hara, Mafaniso
The purpose of this paper is to consider the role that trade plays in food and nutrition security in South Africa. Despite an established commercial food system, South Africans experience high levels of food and nutrition insecurity – both under-nutrition and rising rates of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines food security as ‘a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’1. This paper considers three dimensions of food security – availability, access and nutrition – and unpacks the role of trade across these dimensions at policy level and in practice in sugar and poultry, two key commodities in the food basket of resource-poor South African households. According to the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES- 1) (Shisana et al., 2013:10), 26% of households surveyed nationally reported experiencing hunger, with another 28% of households at risk of hunger. Households in ‘urban informal’ contexts, followed by those in rural formal and then rural informal settings experienced the highest levels of food insecurity. Eastern Cape and Limpopo are the provinces with the highest proportion of food insecure people. The 2005 National Consumption Survey showed that 18% of children in South Africa were stunted, with rural and then urban informal areas most severely affected. ‘Wasting’ (from poor nutrition quality, rather than insufficient food) affected 4.5% of South African children, with 9.3% of children being underweight (DAFF, 2014:9).

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