The Determinants of Formal Market Access for Indigenous Floral Foods among Rural Households in the Amathole District Municipality of South Africa: A Crucial Investigation for Understanding the Economic and Nutritional Dynamics of Rural Communities

Abstract

Paradoxically, indigenous foods contribute to rural household income generation, health, food, and nutrition. Even so, research must investigate their market access, especially the formal market. A cross-sectional research method was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive and inferential, including logistic regression, were used to analyse indigenous food market access determinants. There is evidence of poor market participation and sales of indigenous floral foods (IFFs), with many indigenous foods facing the risk of extinction from the market due to poor involvement by most households in their sales, especially in formal markets. The result shows that 89% of rural households consume indigenous foods, but only 14% participate in selling these foods in formal markets. Indigenous floral foods are not sold at the farm gate, but the rural households sell more IFFs in the informal market as vendors, with few sold to registered markets. The trend results show that rural households' entry into the indigenous food market may decrease despite the growth witnessed in the past decade (2000-2012). The number of people consuming indigenous foods might further reduce due to challenges in getting them to urban and export markets, which arises from difficulty accessing the formal market. Poor demand, seasonality, and other factors are some challenges indigenous food marketing faces. Socioeconomic characteristics of indigenous food farmers, awareness, general information, and policies targeting indigenous foods should be improved, adopted, and implemented. Indigenous foods-related details and other factors that affect the market penetration of IFFs should be addressed to unlock IFFs access to formal markets.