The Biodiversity, Food Security, and Poverty Nexus in the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone of South Africa

Wild-sourced foods are entrenched among African women as a survival resource, with the potential to be expanded. Instead of optimising food security, current linear economic growth models in South Africa favour large environment-degrading projects, such as special economic zones and mining, that increase the gap between the wealthy and poor sectors of society. The contentious Chinese-funded Musina–Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) planned for the Limpopo province of South Africa is used as a case study in this paper. The MMSEZ case demonstrates the failure of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to consider alternative land use suited to a biodiverse economy and existing livelihood strategies. Notably, the availability of a popular edible insect, the mopane worm, was not surveyed at a time when it might have been visible. Despite a local and global interest in insect protein, this opportunity was not considered as a means to improve food security and income streams for local unemployed African women.