Food Security status in the area.

Cedara forms part of the 13 wards that make up the uMngeni Local Municipality.  uMngeni Local Municipality is an administrative area in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. It is estimated that approximately 63.4% of the population in the uMgungundlovu  District is living below the poverty line. Of this 63.4%, approximately 45.6% have no source of income and about 17.8% earn less than R400 per month. This has resulted in a high dependency ratio in the District with an associated high expenditure on social grants. It is for this reason that the Umgungundlovu District has been selected as part of the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot programme.

There are 109,867 uMngeni Residents who form part of the  uMngeni Local Municipality with 30639 households. It is estimated that 578 households are headed by children aged between 15-19 years old. 17013 of households are headed by women and 20930 are headed by men.  Only 30218 people are formally employed in uMngeni with 5540 informally employed. For this reason only 35758 people are in a position to make some money. This is linked to the fact that there are low levels of education which limits the possibility of more people getting better employment and wages. Infant mortality is of concern as the mother’s level of education, environmental conditions, and political and medical infrastructure. Improving sanitation, access to clean drinking water, immunisation against infectious diseases, and other public health measures could help reduce high rates of infant mortality. The quality of healthcare, together with the high HIV prevalence rate in the District, contribute to the high maternal mortality rate.