Land, Labour, and Food Systems

 South Africa’s Complex Journey: Land, Labour, and Food Systems 

 (Photo: by Phumlani Thabethe)

 "He who feeds you, controls you."

 -Thomas Sankara. 

South Africa’s Complex Journey 

South Africa is one of the most fascinating countries in the world. From its diverse people, landscapes, biodiversity, to its rich heritage and complex tapestry on social and economic realities, the nation’s history is deeply intertwined with issues of land, labour, and food. Understanding these connections offers a window into how the past continues to shape the present, especially in the realms of food sovereignty and nutrition. How did we end up here? How are we a third-world country with an obesity issue? This blog post is a drawn-out, summary of links between the three, Maize, Mokhaba (in reference to politics of the stomach, and not bellies themselves) and how we have some of the highest obesity problems in the world. 

Colonisation, Landlessness and Indigenous Food systems displacement 

The arrival of European settlers marked the beginning of land dispossession for indigenous communities in this part of the world. Colonial rule forcibly, through violence, removed people from their ancestral lands, severing their ties to traditional agricultural practices and food systems. Some of the first recipients of this un-welcomed violence, where the Cape San and Khoi people. These people had lived in and around the Southern Cape for a millennia, as stewards, living peacefully with the land, the sea, fauna and flora. 

The migration of colonialists from the coast into the belly of the country, created a another wave of "conquest", killings and annihilation of centuries old histories, traditions and cultures on the San, Khoi and later Bantu. The traumatic and violent colonial encounter created a lasting legacy of landlessness that continues to impact rural and peri-urban Non-White communities today. What followed colonial imposition into the region was further strengthened through over 200 years of racist and discriminatory legislative laws and Acts for both the colonial and later, the Apartheid governments. 

Despite the 1994 democratic moment and dispensation, access to land remains a crucial issue, influencing food security, economic opportunities, and social justice in contemporary South Africa. Indigenous food systems, once central to the diets and cultures of San, Khoi and Bantu peoples of Southern Africa, were systematically eroded by colonisation, urbanisation, and a globalised-industrial agricultural system. Traditional grains, wild foods, and sustainable farming practices were, forcibly in many instances, replaced by Western-style monoculture and imported food products. The shift away from indigenous crops, such as sorghum and millet, has contributed to a loss of biodiversity and weakened community resilience to climate change we see today. 

Discriminatory Laws, Migrant Labour System and GMO’s? 

During apartheid, restrictive labour laws and the migrant labour system reinforced economic inequalities, forcing Black South Africans to work in mines and industrial sectors far from their homes. This was systematically done though racist acts such a Natives Land Act, Hut Taxes, the introduction of the cash-nexus into a region historically known for battering, to name a few. Not only did these disrupt family structures and realities of black rural life, but also altered food traditions. Many workers had to rely on cheap, highly processed foods in urban centres. Not helping the situation is the close historical ties of land dispossession to make way for white farmers, who then produce for the mining industrial complexes of the day, never seen before quantities and tonnages on monocultural maize production, to feed an exhausted workforce. This was the stepping stone for what would later become public health challenges, including malnutrition and diet-related diseases. 

The Green Revolution, with its emphasis on high-yield crops and chemical inputs, dramatically transformed South African agriculture. Like in many parts of the world, as with its inception, given the baby boom of the post-war era in the West (Ps; White-Apartheid South Africa considered itself an extension of the West at this point), promised and delivered on increasing production. These industrialised farming methods favoured large-scale commercial farmers and marginalised smallholder farmers who relied on traditional practices. The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) further intensified debates over food sovereignty, as corporate-controlled seed patents limited farmers’ ability to save and exchange seeds (Another post on this coming soon). 

Post-Apartheid South Africa’s Obesity Debacle 

In the post-apartheid era, South Africa has faced a growing obesity crisis. Urbanisation, changing dietary habits, and aggressive marketing of ultra-processed foods(created and nourished historically by our industrial scale extractive industries) have led to rising rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Added to this, is the growing cost of living and really unequal cotemporary food system that, just like its Westen counterparts, makes healthy and nutritious foods expensive while unhealthy disease causing fast-foods are thrusted upon us at really cheap prices. Many communities, particularly in lower-income areas, struggle with a double burden of malnutrition—where obesity and food insecurity coexist. It remains an unfathomable conundrum, to be food insecure yet be 17th in the world for obesity prevalences, South Africa, the country that you. 

Towards Indigenous Food Systems 

While this comes as all doom and gloom, there are some growing home-grown responses to these issues. At the writing of this blog, the most known response is the recently enacted the Expropriation Act, 2024, a significant legislation law, aimed at addressing historical land ownership disparities resulting from apartheid and colonialism. The Act provides a legal framework for government to expropriate property for public purposes or in the public interest, with compensation that is just and equitable. There is also a growing movement to revive indigenous food systems. This is through community led organisations in both rural and urban settings, activities societies, researchers (like Dr. Qinisani Qwabe), and farmers, working to promote historically othered, pre-colonial food systems and heritages. Besides these being a possible response to South Africa’s food security problem, traditional and indigenous crops, are often more resilient to drought and pests, while offering a better, endogenous pathway towards a more sustainable and nutritious food system. 

 Strengthening local food networks and reclaiming food heritage can help South Africa move towards a more equitable, nutritious and food-secure future. South Africa’s journey through land dispossession, labour exploitation, and food system transformation is a testament to its resilience. By reconnecting with indigenous knowledge and advocating for food sovereignty, there is hope for a healthier and more sustainable future. The question now is: how do we ensure that the future of South Africa’s food systems serves all its people?