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Abstract
This study set out to investigate the food insecurity coping strategies employed by sample households from the Embo community in the Umbumbulu district of KwaZulu-Natal. It also set out to establish if participation in agriculture improved household food security. The study used the Coping Strategy Index to establish the food security status of the households by calculating and comparing the Coping Strategy Index Scores of households. The main findings related to the application of coping strategies were that households applied short-term food consumption coping strategies to cope with food shortages. While agriculture may play a major role in the reduction of food insecurity, the food insecurity problem in South Africa cannot be solved by promoting agriculture alone. Attention should also be given to the promotion of non-farming activities, particularly those that are associated with the smallholder agricultural sector.