DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS OF THE MOPANI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY, LIMPOPO PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Regardless of the several measures implemented by the South African government to curb food insecurity, the majority of rural households are still experiencing food insecurity at a provincial level, particularly in Limpopo Province. This could be because of the high unemployment rate that is becoming worse in the province. Even though many members of rural households have obtained tertiary education, most individuals still find it difficult to secure jobs. This results in many rural households depending on social grants to make a living, and it is acknowledged that these social grants are not enough to provide for a household's food needs. This study was conducted in the Mopani district municipality. A multistage sampling procedure was used, and villages were selected based on probability proportionate to size, making a total of 173 rural households. The objectives of the study were to profile the socio-economic characteristics of rural households, to identify the food security status of these households, and to determine the factors that influence food security among them. To analyse the data, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, descriptive statistics and the multinomial logistic regression model were used. From the findings of the study, the results revealed that the majority of rural households in the Mopani district municipality were found to be moderately to severely food insecure as per logistic regression estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]