Religious and Cultural Drivers of the Feminization of Food Insecurity in South Africa: Contextualizing Ruth

Research reveals that urban manifestations of food insecurity in South Africa are rising at a rapid rate. The locus of poverty and food insecurity is shifting as a result of rapid urbanization and poor governmental policy interventions. Moreover, research reveals that women and children are disproportionately affected by climate-induced food insecurity. This chapter holds that the perpetuation of the food insecurity crisis in South Africa is a result of a myriad of factors, inclusive of structural and systemic oppression, climate change and the cultural and religious arrangements of society. Re-reading the Book of Ruth through the lens of African women’s theology, the chapter will analyse the context of oppression in the biblical narrative as it relates to the perpetuation of historic structural and systemic oppression in South African societies. The chapter will further examine the roles of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz in the biblical narrative in order to probe how religious underpinnings, particularly the religious underpinnings of women, serve to perpetuate the oppression and food insecurity status of under-resourced urban women.