The WHO (2007) Technical Report on protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition states that the best estimate for a population average requirement is 105 mg nitrogen/kg body weight per day, or 0·66 g protein/kg body weight per day. In many developing countries protein intake falls significantly short of these values. Apart from protein quantity, protein quality including bioavailability and digestibility, from different food sources, are currently on the global agenda. The 1st International Symposium on Dietary Protein for Human Health held in Auckland, in March 2011, and the consecutive Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Expert Consultation on Dietary Protein Quality, both highlighted the importance of assessing the quality of protein from different food sources through determination of amino acid content. Throughout the developed world, animal products and cereals are the two most important sources of protein; in developing countries this order is reversed. In low income countries only 3 % of total dietary energy, as an indicator of diet composition, is derived from meat and offal, 11 % from roots and tubers and 6 % from pulses, nuts and oilseeds. The remainder of the dietary energy is mainly derived from cereal-based staple food. Although the production of livestock has increased in developing countries, the consumption of protein in these countries with people consuming the most limited amounts of protein are continually decreasing. Undernutrition, including insufficient consumption of protein, remains a persistent problem in the developing world, and although many diets within these developing countries are deficient in thequantityof protein compared to recommendations, thequalityof the protein also strongly comes into focus.

Although South Africa is food secure as a nation, many households remain food insecure. The government has recognized several key food security challenges in the Integrated Food Security Strategy (IFSS). However, South Africa still lacks specific and accepted methods to measure food security and currently has no regulated way of monitoring the food security status of its population. This article reports on an investigation into the food security situation of rural households in the Limpopo Province. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered across five districts in the province. The study sample eventually involved 599 households in the rural areas of Limpopo. This allowed a thorough description of household characteristics and livelihoods and an assessment of the food security and poverty levels in the area. The findings showed that 53 % of the sampled rural households declared themselves to be severely food insecure. Multivariate analyses were used to identify the main household characteristics that determined the household’s food security status. These determinants were mainly human capital (education, household size and dependency ratio), household income and district in which the households were situated. The findings indicated that policy priorities should be focused on the promotion of rural education and creating an enabling environment for the rural labour market.

One serious concern of health policymakers in South Africa is the fact that there is no national data on the dietary intake of adult South Africans. The only national dietary study was done in children in 1999. Hence, it becomes difficult to plan intervention and strategies to combat malnutrition without national data on adults. The current review consequently assessed all dietary studies in adults from 2000 to June 2015 in an attempt to portray typical adult dietary intakes and to assess possible dietary deficiencies. Notable findings were that, in South Africa micronutrient deficiencies are still highly prevalent and energy intakes varied between very low intakes in informal settlements to very high intakes in urban centers. The most commonly deficient food groups observed are fruit and vegetables, and dairy. This has been attributed to high prices and lack of availability of these food groups in poorer urban areas and townships. In rural areas, access to healthy foods also remains a problem. A national nutrition monitoring system is recommended in order to identify dietary deficiencies in specific population groups.