“Food security and food issues are a major social challenge in South Africa. McLachlan and Thorne cite an analysis by Adam Kahane of the food security problem in South Africa. In this analysis Kahane is of the opinion that the food security problem in South Africa has many of the elements of what he calls a ‘complex social challenge’. His discussion of the challenge of food security in South Africa identifies three types of complexity. The first refers to the relationship between causes and effects when they are far apart from each other in space and time, which inhibits the ability of people to see and understand the relationship. The second exists when different stakeholders each have specific interests and their own perspectives
on the same issue. The last refers to situations where the context of a specific social challenge or problem is changing rapidly; this makes future prospects very different from those of the present, thereby rendering existing solutions neither valid
nor applicable to the challenges faced. Kahane believes that all three of these complexities can be found in the South African case.”
