Casey Delport

MComm Student, Agricultural Economics


caseyd94@gmail.com

Download CV (PDF) Supervisors: Prof Scott Drimie

Field of research

  • SES Resilience
  • South African Agriculture
  • Food Policy

Profile

Casey is currently pursuing her MCom thesis in Agricultural Economics. In 2017 she graduated with a BCom, with a double major in Agricultural Economics and Industrial Psychology. She is a teaching assistant to the head of department, Professor Nick Vink.

Description of research project:

In the past, ‘food policy’ was essentially used as a blanket term to indicate the entire range of policy efforts that affect various food system outcomes. Of late however, the term has come to be used to indicate the need for more integrative strategies to align the various policy efforts. Said efforts would involve pursuing a shared vision of food systems as a whole, through consistent and integrated sectoral policy goals and instruments. Within South Africa, the presidency is mandated to coordinate and integrate said policies, in order to create credibility, sustainability, investor confidence and in order to avoid political confusion. However, food policy offers a substantial challenge to governments across the globe as, amongst many other issues, it spans across multiple policy areas, thereby demanding various responses across these said different policy sectors. Furthermore, government structures often create inconsistent policies due to separate political mandates and the perusal of various self-interests. Thus, the aim of the research project is to provide the evidence of what is a misalignment in food policy across and within sectors, and to indicate the implications thereof.

Three of the main research focal areas are as follows:

  • The complexity of the social-ecological system (food system) and challenges, assumptions,   expectations of governing this through policy
  • Appropriate policy responses to the food system
  • The (mis)alignment of policy (across sectors) and the “reality of realpolitik”: implications for a post- Zuma administration.