#afsun

Photo by Amir Abbaspoor on Pexels.com Origin: Persian Meaning: “charm; spell; magic; incantation.” Gender: Female Variant Transcriptions: Afsoon, Afsun uf-SOON; feuf-SOON The name comes directly from the Persian word, افسون (afsoun), meaning, “charm; spell; magic; incantation.” The Turkish female name, Füsun is of the same…

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KAZAK-KIRGIZ BAKSILARININ BÖY AFSUNU

“Böy, böy desedi Biy Bazar evliya, “darın, darın, desedi Darın Bazar evliya. Sayım ulu Sekirgen, Sayım şeyh evliya, Magrıpta evliya, maşrıkta evliya, Baymır ulu peri men, Mıng Mırzalı evliya, hak Süleyman peygamber,   “Böy, böy” diyorlar, Biy Bazar evliya, Darın darın...

Devamını okumak için: https://turkcetarih.com/kazak-kirgiz-baksilarinin-boy-afsunu/

The Future of Food Insecurity “It’s been a long day,” thinks Bulelwa Tafeni. It always is. As usual she got up at 5am to get to her cleaning job in the suburbs on time. As usual all she had before she left was a cup of coffee with condensed

CMFD (Community Media for Development) Productions

Story Summary

Here is the full documentary series outline for the series. For information on accessing the series see here

"1: The Invisible Crisis: Urban Food Security in Southern

In the 21st Century, the question of where the next meal is going to come from is a reality for many. The problem of food insecurity is often mistakenly seen as only a rural problem, yet rapid urbanisation is contributing to more and more food pressures on cities. The rising costs of food and other essentials, such as electricity and water, means 4 out of 5 households are moderately or severely food insecure, according to research. Strategies must be implemented to alleviate this problem.

2: Making ends meet: In pursuit of food security Over half of all people in the world now live in urban areas. In these growing cities, shelves and bins in supermarkets groan with fresh and processed foodstuffs, while on their doorstep poor households are unable to access enough staples to feed themselves more than once a day. Food may be more plentiful and more diverse in the city than rural locations, but it is far from being equally accessible. In this edition correspondents in Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi speak to families about their struggles and strategies for food security.

3: Where Does Food Come From? For millions of people living in Southern Africa's cities, putting food on the table is part of a complex web of sellers, distributors and vendors. In Southern Africa, big agri-business and international supermarkets operate alongside informal and street side traders. Understanding how cities are fed - where this food comes from, how it gets to the consumer, and who is buying where - is vital to planning for the increasing food demands of cities. This edition sets out to find out where urban consumers get their food.

4: Supermarkets All across Southern Africa, supermarkets are popping up in new neighbourhoods at an unprecedented rate. On the one hand, the spread of supermarkets could offer consumers more choices, while also translating larger purchasing power into cheaper prices. On the other hand, the growth of big business can also be the ruin of small and medium size farms and smallholder producers. These shelves bursting with stock - just where does it all come from? This episode of looks at the business of supermarkets in the region.

5: Food Across Borders Southern Africa sees a large amount of food cross its borders, formal and informal trade. Cross border trade is big business; according to research over 40% of people crossing the border do so for trade purposes. At the same time, migrants also find themselves in the position of sending food or cash for food home. This episode looks at food security and the migration of informal traders across borders

6: Nutrition: the Double Burden Despite decades of interventions, Southern Africa still faces widespread malnutrition, especially among children. However, while many do not have enough to eat, rapid urbanisation and changing diets are now producing a second ‘silent emergency' - over nutrition or obesity. For people living with HIV, it is very important to eat nutritious food but lost income can also affect purchasing power. This edition looks at the double burden of under-nutrition and over nutrition, and the threat to the region's health.

7: Stretched Households: Informal Food Transfers, Remittances and Food Security Many families in Southern Africa rely on each other for cash and food when times are tough. Whether the extended family is across a border, or living in another part of the country, few urban dwellers would dream of returning home for the holidays or a weekend visit empty handed. Many people in the city also enjoy the fruits of their rural family's agricultural labour, at least every once in a while. This episode looks at how households are stretched across the urban - rural divide, and the importance of remittances and informal food transfers to food security in the region.

8: HIV and Food Security Southern Africa is greatly affected by HIV and AIDS, with the highest prevalence rates found in urban areas. Despite the large numbers of urban people struggling with both poverty and HIV, very little is understood about the link between HIV and food security in cities. It is of utmost importance that people living with HIV/AIDS eat healthy and nutritious food, while families struggling with caring for an AIDS affected family member may have reduced income. This episode of looks at the interconnection between HIV/AIDS and urban food security

9: Food Waste and Re-distribution In most African cities, there is enough food available to feed everyone. In fact, while some go hungry - in other corners food is wasted. In wealthier homes, leftovers from yesterday's meals stay in the fridge until they are no longer edible. More worryingly, large superstores regularly dispose of food that's gone past its sell by date. So with excess on one side, why then are so many going hungry? And how can we make the best use of all this food? This episode explores how food is being re-distributed, to help feed hungry stomachs, and how feeding schemes help many get by.

10: Urban Agriculture In the 1980's and 90's, the focus on urban agriculture saw a rise in popularity of such phrases as "cities feeding people," "hunger-proof cities," " "urban harvest." However, research shows that in reality, a very small proportion of people living in cities grow food for themselves. Even fewer grow food for sale. This episode asks the question - what role is urban agriculture currently playing in the food security of Southern Africa's rapidly urbanising towns and cities?

Presenter’s Guide

The Minister of Agriculture, Foresty and Fisheries released wrote the article below (Link)

It is good to see AFSUN getting more coverage. However, three small points:

1) The 12 million figure attributed to AFSUN is actually a DAFF figure, not ours

2) There is a significant difference between food insecurity and starvation. 

3) I welcome the discussion on food waste and better access to markets for smallholder farmers, but I am disappointed the default conclusion is again a call for household food production. We need to take the systemic challenges seriously.

"A NEW study by the African Food Security Urban Network (Afsun) reveals startling results that have shocked South Africans, leading to various debates about what we can do to combat the extreme levels of food insecurity.

Roughly 12 million South Africans are food insecure at the same time as the country is generally considered a food secure country. Globally, 80 million people are facing starvation.

Internationally, food security is defined as the ability of people to secure adequate food. Researchers have defined food security as the access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. The key component is access to enough nutritious food.

The right to access to sufficient food is embedded in sections 26 and 27 of the constitution. The 2030 National Development Plan outlines food security as an important component to our vision for growth.

The plan identifies “food security, water security and rural development; adaptation strategies and environmental resilience; more effective models of black economic empowerment; exercise, diets, nutrition and other preventative health areas; social cohesion and language; disability policy; and partnerships for innovation” as priority areas.

The millennium development goals, to which South Africa is a signatory, have set the goal of halving the proportion of people who go hungry over the period 1990 and 2015, and to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.

Every year, on October 16, the international community marks World Food Day to heighten public awareness about food security.

In South Africa, last week’s revelation that the number of people facing starvation is roughly 20 percent of our population was met with shock and disbelief.

While the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has been consistent in its message about poverty across our social fabric, many struggle to believe that urban dwellers are facing poverty just as much as their rural counterparts. What can citizenry do?

A UN Development Programme (UNDP) report of 2006 pointed out that food insecurity is closely linked to poverty, income and unemployment. These challenges were also outlined by President Jacob Zuma in last year’s State of the Nation address, in which he challenged all citizens to fight the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. All government programmes inherently fight poverty.

Additionally, the UNDP report revealed that poverty and unemployment have a strong relationship with food insecurity, and in most cases food insecurity manifest in multiple deprivations. Food insecurity, it said, begins with the loss of employment, which in turns leads to a significant degradation in living standard.

While analysing the reasons for food insecurity, we also take cognisance of rising food prices and the impact these have on households’ ability to afford nutritious food. According to the National Agricultural Marketing Council’s quarterly food price monitoring reports, from January 2008 to October 2010, consumers in rural areas on average paid R16.74 more than consumers in urban areas for the same food.

A major task facing the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has been, and remains, the provision of assistance to SMMEs and co-operatives.

To date, there are 230 000 smallholder farmers and beneficiaries of land reform programmes and 35 000 commercial farmers.

There is an urgent need to support smallholder farmers by assisting them with access to markets, access to finance and access to skills as an additional means to support existing food security objectives and programmes.

Having said that, smallholder farmers cannot stay “emerging” forever. We need them to take part in the economy, to take part in export businesses, and to take opportunities to grow their businesses so they can also employ workers.

A total of R12 574 082 has been spent across nine provinces on 18 large-scale co-operatives. These have the potential to create more than 50 jobs each, with the primary aim to direct resources and efforts towards sustainable projects.

The comprehensive agricultural support programme is a mechanism through which the assistance is provided to people in rural areas to grow their own food, so they can sustain themselves and their families. Our department has set itself a target of establishing 15 000 smallholder producers, with a particular focus on women. We have seen many inspirational stories of women who are doing it by themselves through co-operatives and their own farming businesses, and employing other women.

Some of the constraints that smallholder farmers face relate to lack of access to land, and poor physical and institutional infrastructure. Most smallholder farmers are in rural areas, particularly the former homelands, where lack of physical and institutional infrastructure limits their expansions. Lack of access to proper roads, for example, limits the ability of a farmer to transport inputs and produce, and to access information.

Many people have been wondering what society can do to help the government combat food insecurity.

This question fortunately comes at a time when several media reports have alerted us to rampant food waste, with 900 million tons of food apparently discarded annually.

Perhaps we should start there. Whether we live in urban or rural areas, we need to take note of how much food goes to waste.

There is also growing need for us to support NGOs such as Food Bank SA, so that food donations reach even the most remote areas.

We need to assist NGOs in widening their distribution logistics.

There is growing need for a social campaign focusing on changing our mindsets about food production, and cascading down to what we, as consumers, are doing to contribute to this problem and how we can change our behaviour.