Paper Title
SUSTAINABLE LAND USE MANAGEMENT AND FOOD SECURITY: PROSPECTS OF THE UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN FORMER HOMELANDS

Abstract
Abstract - With the pandemic-induced food insecurity across the country, there is a heightened need to tap moreinto the agricultural sector for food security. The conventional manner of maintaining a sturdy supply of food is traditionally expanding cropping land. Simultaneously, low carbon recovery has been a topical issue in the agricultural sector, as an exigency of combating climate change by limiting land degradation. Therefore, it is critical to foster low carbon recovery measures to combat food insecurity in a low carbon manner. Land use management is one of the tools that community members can employ. Unfortunately, South African communities in former homelands do not have the capacity to carry out this task. Universities have been called upon to engage in partnerships with their surrounding communities as a way of cementing their relevance and providing their students with hands-on experience. This research used document analysis as a method of collecting data on the potential that community engagement can have on land use management. This was achieved through selecting academic publications and dissertations as sources of data. There is evidence that when universities educate theircommunity members on land use, there are benefits that ensue. These include among others, a home-grown set of formal land-use policies for the local municipality, a rich body of rural development research data for the faculty members, and career-oriented community planning experience for the students.In addition, it opens a platform for the co-creation of valuable solutions among the university, the local municipality, and community members. Therefore, community engagement plays a critical role in helping communities that they are directly situated in. Keywords - Rural Development; University-Community Partnerships; Community Engagement; Rural Land Use Planning; Food Security