ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1644072
ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIVATE SECTOR STRATEGIC INVESTMENT INTERVENTIONS AND FOOD SECURITY OUTCOMES OF EMERGING FORESTRY COMMERCIAL FARMERS
Provisionally accepted
- School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
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Food insecurity remains a pressing challenge in developing nations, including South Africa, where many households depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.persists as a critical challenge, particularly in developing nations where agricultural activities constitute the primary source of livelihood for the majority of the population. South Africa, as a developing nation, faces significant challenges related to household vulnerability to food insecurity. Integrating forestry emerging forestry commercial farmers into private sector investment frameworks offers potential to improve food security, yet empirical evidence on this relationship is limited.presents a potential mechanism for enhancing food security outcomes. However, despite the theoretical advantages of private sector investments in addressing food security concerns, empirical evidence regarding their impact on emerging commercial farmers remains limited. This study examines the relationship between private-sector investment interventions and food security outcomes among emerging forestry commercial farmers. Using a quantitative design methodological framework, the research analysed data from 121 emerging forestry commercial farmers selected through simple random sampling procedures. Analysis using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and a parametric marginal treatment effects (MTEs) model with local instrumental variable (IV) estimation. Results showed indicated that 97.5% of the sampled population experienced food insecurity, while only 2.5% demonstrated food security. To assess the relationship of private sector investment interventions, the Style Definition: Heading 1: Font: Italic, Justified study employed a parametric marginal treatment effects (MTEs) model with local instrumental variable estimation. For treated farmers, educational attainment and farm association membership were positively associated with improved food security, while for untreated farmers, training duration and satisfaction with training had similar positive effects. These findings highlight the role of education, collective organisation, and effective training in reducing food insecurity among emerging forestry commercial farmers.
Keywords: Food security, Food insecurity, Private Sector, strategic innervationintervention, parametric marginal treatment effects
Received: 09 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mnikathi, Hlatshwayo and Ngidi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sandile Jason Mnikathi, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
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