Leveraging the Potential of Sorghum as a Healthy Food and Resilient Crop in the South African Food System

Abstract

An erosion of indigenous and traditional foods in the Global South has dramatically changed the global food system in the last 50 years. Reinvigorating these crops and the agro-biodiversity that they represent could provide benefits for healthier and more sustainable food systems. In South Africa, it has been proposed that studying indigenous plants more extensively and focussing on innovation to include them as mainstream foods on people's plates could improve food and nutrition security. With this background, this paper aims to contribute to addressing this challenge by researching sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) to identify the opportunities for innovating around sorghum as a healthy food and resilient crop. The paper traces sorghum through various encounters across the South African food system. The results point at clear areas where policy interventions could bolster the sorghum value chain. These include zero-rating VAT on sorghum products, investing more extensively in research and marketing across diverse stakeholders, raising awareness about the health benefits of sorghum and using public procurement as a way of instigating a market for novel sorghum products. The outcomes of a successful sorghum innovation programme could improve smallholder farmers' livelihoods, make a healthy food more accessible to South Africans and develop a local market for innovative products that utilize a crop that is resilient to projected climatic changes.

Assessing urban transformational strategies through innovative farming practices in the Johannesburg city center

“…The spatial and socioeconomic effects of apartheid governance have been a major driver of transformation in South African cities (Pereira, 2014). Urban farming has increasingly become one of the instruments to address some of these disparities, particularly in the Johannesburg inner city.…”

“…This is already a reality within South African cities where urbanization outcomes have left households vulnerable to food insecurity (Pereira, 2014). This is attributed to the large share of the households’ budgets being taken up by the purchasing of food for consumption (Battersby et al., 2015).…”

“…The Food and Agriculture Organization State of Food Security and Nutrition of the World Report 2020 also highlighted the importance of the affordability of nutritious food and how food prices have a significant impact on urban food and nutrition security (FAO et al, 2020). This is already a reality within South African cities where urbanization outcomes have left households vulnerable to food insecurity (Pereira, 2014). This is attributed to the large share of the households' budgets being taken up by the purchasing of food for consumption (Battersby et al, 2015).…”

Plasticity of root hair and rhizosheath traits and their relationship to phosphorus uptake in sorghum

“…In Africa, sorghum is the second most crucial cereal after maize (Taylor, 2004 ), with a total production of 25.6 million tons. Africa is the global leader in sorghum production (Pereira & Hawkes, 2022 ). Sorghum is grown in varied climates due to its tolerance to various environmental conditions.…”

“…Sorghum is grown in varied climates due to its tolerance to various environmental conditions. It is tolerant to drought and short periods of water‐logging conditions, making it an exceptionally resilient crop in low‐input agroecosystems and arid or semi‐arid regions (Pereira & Hawkes, 2022 ; Wojciechowski & Kant, 2021 ) and for climate change adaptation in resource‐poor environments.…”