Highlighting simple solutions to end food insecurity and hunger

The experience of the Water for Food Movement in South Africa

There is little I can add to the available documentation on the subject of water and poverty and the impacts malnutrition has on the most vulnerable in society, especially children and women, said Mrs Ethne Davey, Chairperson of the Gender and Water Alliance during her presentation at the opening session of the Stockholm World Water Week.

Food security

She added that a paradigm shift to move from the high tech water infrastructure and conventional farming methods to expand and include household food security strategies was needed and proceeded to illustrate this during her presentation by sharing the experience of Mma Tshepo and the Water for Food Movement in South Africa.

In South Africa the highest risks of poverty are faced by single female headed households, child headed households and the elderly. Additionally there is very little done to promote and support the initiatives of especially rural women to ensure food security for their families based on what they have at hand –their labour and sometimes access to land.

"Ten fingers" principle

Mma Tshepo Khumbane has been teaching women to achieve food security for the last forty years in very arid areas in South Africa by applying the “ten fingers” principle. The “ten fingers” principle is a strong statement of independence and determination that states that “if I have nothing else to plough or dig with, I have ten fingers to scratch the soil”.

Encouraging the poorest women to work through a process of mind mobilization to build household food security safety nets, Mma Tshepo teaches women from food insecure households how to plant crops and do garden work using rainwater harvesting. Targeting the poorest women in the village, Mma Tshepo carries out a village scoping analysis to identify the most food insecure households. She believes that if the poorest families can become food secure, it will be easier for the next level to follow. This process of self-analysis has also given poor women a sense of hope and control of their lives.

Growing food at home

The outstanding results of her approach show that ten different types of vegetables can be grown on a surface of 222 square meters with a yield of 953 kg. Her simple approach has changed the lives of approximately 35,000 rural women in South Africa. “Growing food at home is 30% technique, 65% is about changing the way the woman sees herself and her immediate environment and 5% fun”. However, real commitment is required from donor countries and governments involved to support effectively simple and manageable initiatives as this one, finally stated Mrs Davey.

Gender and Water Alliance

The Gender and Water Alliance, an independent network promoting gender mainstreaming in Integrated Water Resources Management believes that simple approaches and local solutions are key to bring equity, efficiency and effectiveness to water resources management.

For more information: genderandwateralliance.org