Finding food coping strategies in your back garden

Up to 70% of households in rural settlements across South Africa are food insecure. Food insecurity inevitably leads to malnutrition, stunting, poor development and decreased academic ability in children, as well as obesity, chronic diseases and mental health disorders in adults. Implicitly, it relates to a disadvantaged person who has been deprived of essential nutrients during vital phases in early childhood.

Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and nutrition and food composition expert, Prof Hettie Schӧnfeldt, says 53% of the sampled South African rural households in her study were severely food insecure. South Africa is plagued with poverty, unemployment and a lack of knowledge which often results in an inability to access food that is nutritious and safe, making so many South African households food insecure.

Schӧnfeldt and her research team at the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-being (IFNuW) were motivated by this very complex societal problem, wanting to improve the lives of many children and adults in South Africa who suffer from micro and macro nutrient deficiencies. Deficiencies of essential nutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin A and protein can lead to anaemia, immune deficiencies and kwashiorkor.

Considering inhibiting factors such as low incomes and lack of regular transport, Schӧnfeldt focused her research on traditional indigenous foods of South Africa in an effort to improve the knowledge of their nutritional composition. Such foods are also easily grown and therefore could be introduced into vegetable garden initiatives across rural areas. Vegetable gardens and small scale farmers of indigenous foods can serve as an essential means to supplementing the diets of impoverished people.

Schӧnfeldt explains that prior to their study, very little data existed on South African indigenous foods’ nutritional composition, with the majority of data coming from international platforms such as the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA) Food Composition Database.

'Indigenous food crops are not properly utilised, despite the wide diversity of these crops, including grains, leafy green vegetables and wild fruits,' says Schӧnfeldt. Grains are an important source of nutrients, including fibre, the B vitamins, and minerals such as iron, magnesium and selenium. The leafy green vegetables are an excellent source of fibre, folate and carotenoids. These vegetables also contain vitamins C and K and the minerals iron and calcium. They are also good antioxidants in the body. Wild fruits are great sources for essential nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C and folate, not to mention all the newly discovered polyphenols that contribute to optimal health.

While indigenous cereals such as sorghum and millet have been supplanted by maize across most of southern Africa, these indigenous cereals are known for their resistance to drought and are able to grow under various weather conditions. Apart from their nutritional value, Schӧnfeldt says this makes these cereals even more important because they can contribute to food security in times that are drastically affected by climate change. Though not fully commercialised, indigenous crops like sorghum meal are of economic value, and typically less expensive than maize meal.

Schӧnfeldt enriched food composition databases by paying special attention to the nutrient content of five traditional South African dark green leafy vegetables. These vegetables possess a high nutrient content and are rich in iron. Therefore, they could play an important role in combating iron deficiency and malnutrition in South Africa. These leafy vegetables include misbredie, pumpkin leaves, cowpea leaves, cat’s whiskers and wild jute.

An important objective of Schӧnfeldt’s research was to provide a vital and affordable supplementation to diets, motivating people to increase their consumption of these foods. Home vegetable gardens are an easy, inexpensive way to incorporate these indigenous foods into a diet. 'The importance of food coping strategies, such as planting and harvesting one’s own food thus strongly comes into focus,' says Schӧnfeldt. Her studies on other indigenous foods’ nutritional benefits also include amasi (fermented milk), Bonsmara cattle, ostriches, and goats.

Another challenge to food security in South Africa is urbanisation. The move from rural to urban areas is affecting people’s diets – moving away from traditional foods to fast foods with high salt, sugar and fat content. As a result, obesity and chronic disease are on the increase.

However, Schӧnfeldt’s research is making a significant difference on the ground, to the lives of many South Africans. And as a result of this work, the statistics on food insecurity in South Africa are slowly improving. She has contributed greatly to changing government policies on nutrition, food composition and school feeding programmes. Schӧnfeldt also serves on a number of advisory committees, particularly for the national Departments of Health, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Basic Education, advocating through science the importance of nutrition and healthy food choices. She also works closely with the Department of Social Development to ensure their staff are well trained in nutrition, equipping them with the knowledge of the signs for malnutrition and food insecurity.

Researchers

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  Professor Hettie Schönfeldt

  Professor Hettie Schönfeldt completed her undergraduate studies in Home Economics and Dietetics at the University of Pretoria (UP), and graduated with a BSc degree in Food and Nutrition. She has been a researcher at UP for more than 20 years.

  She had the choice to follow a clinical career as a dietitian or to pursue a research career where she could contribute at a population level.

  “As food is an integral part of our daily lives and determines our nutritional status, it provides opportunities to find practical solutions for people to improve their health and well-being,” she says.

  Prof Schönfeldt is an advocate for nutrition research, promoting excellence through the creation, translation and dissemination of science-based information into policies, programmes and training programmes, both nationally and internationally.

  She publishes evidence on why country-specific food composition data is essential to make it possible to interpret the dietary outcomes of countries. She serves as scientific advisor to Afrofoods, a network in Africa that forms part of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences /United Nations University/Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) INFOODS Task Force.

  Prof Schönfeldt’s research contributes to the betterment of the world as nutrition (and food) is crucially important to the economy. It enhances children’s learning capacity and increases their potential to play an important role in the workforce later in life.

  “Eleven of the 17 underlying causes of premature mortality and morbidity are directly related to malnutrition, manifested in under- and over-nutrition,” Prof Schönfeldt explains. “Malnutrition contributes to a vicious cycle of poor health and depressed productivity, and impaired ability to concentrate and learn, trapping families in poverty and eroding economic security. Education on important dietary choices and better nutrition through diverse diets decrease ill health and improve the ability to work and earn a sustainable livelihood.”

  From a data availability perspective, there is a significant need for regularly updated, nationally representative and socio-economically disaggregated detailed food intake data, food composition data, as well as raw-to-cooked conversion factors for South Africa specifically. Such data facilitates accurate analyses that will form the basis for food consumption, nutrition analyses and policymaking.

  The contribution of indigenous foods to the livelihoods of farmers and family nutrition is often neither documented in science nor acknowledged in poverty reduction strategies. In order to promote and expand the utilisation of these animal and plant foods, knowledge of their nutritional composition is essential. An example of an indigenous food that Prof Schönfeldt’s research group recently studied is Aponogeton distachyos or waterblommetjies, an aquatic flowering plant that is endemic and native to the Western Cape.

  The research group’s study of complementary feeding practices in South Africa showed that poor infant feeding practices still prevail. Food and liquids are introduced too early, there is poor dietary diversity and little use of animal-source foods.

  Prof Schönfeldt is co-director of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), which is led by UP in collaboration with the University of Ghana and the University of Nairobi. A limited number of cross-cutting themes unify the research agenda of the ARUA-SFS and ensures that the research is context relevant. The themes are context-specific factors that are embedded in Africa’s future food security; they form the foundation and inform the direction of the identified research focus areas.

  A career highlight for Prof Schönfeldt was an invitation to serve as Chief Rapporteur for the FAO/World Health Organisation Expert Working Group on Protein Requirements for Human Health held in Auckland, New Zealand. She also performed a descriptive review of the nutrition sensitivity of the food and agricultural policies in South Africa for the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition; the review was used to inform the International Conference on Nutrition in November 2014 and the development of the Sustainable Development Goals.

  In 2015, Prof Schönfeldt was co-leader of UP’s team appointed by the South African Presidency to support developing a multisector comprehensive national food and nutrition security policy and implementation plan. In 2020, the Presidency selected her to perform a case study on the Gauteng City Region’s efforts to combat the impact of COVID-19; the study was called ‘A provincial deep dive on response to food security’. In 2019, Prof Schönfeldt received the Nevin Scrimshaw Award at the 13th International Food Data Conference held in Lisbon, Portugal.

  Her research was inspired by Dr Clive E West (1939 – 2004), whom she regards as a role model.

  “He had an inexhaustible curiosity to discover and interpret; he embraced broad expertise in nutritional sciences, showed unqualified commitment to educate and was dedicated to improving health in malnourished societies,” Prof Schönfeldt says.

  She hopes to harness partnerships in research and innovation in her research to drive agricultural and food system transformation in order to contribute to sustainable food security and nutrition globally. Prof Schönfeldt lives by the maxim “sharing is caring”.

  “This philosophy is reflected in the sharing of my knowledge with students and colleagues alike,” she says. “It has rewarded me with the strong, supportive networks that I have built over time.”

  She has the following message for learners and undergraduate students interested in her field: “A good scientist should have a natural curiosity to move the current borders of knowledge with science-based evidence. You should have a vision of what you want to accomplish and set your goals to reach it independently in the face of adversity.”

  Prof Schönfeldt enjoys gardening, needlework and travelling. As a mother of four, she has been passionately involved in all school activities, and is the go-to person for both the school and parents. 

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  Finding food coping strategies in your back garden