SA’s food system is not serving the public good

The SA Human Rights Commission held an hearing to discuss the slow pace in which the recommendations of the commission were being implemented to tackle hunger in Eastern Cape. It was noted that health department records revealed that in the last 18-months, 973 children with severe acute malnutrition had died in hospitals around the country. Recently the United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, highlighted the challenges faced by children in SA, pointing out that “only 21% of children under five receive a minimum acceptable diet, with a 5% prevalence of wasting and 29% of stunting among young children”.Stunting occurs when a child’s height-for-age is low and is a chronic form of malnutrition that manifests over a relatively long period of time compared to other forms of malnutrition. Data and statistics are difficult to understand because we tend to only see the numbers, and not the suffering these numbers represent. We asked recently, along with colleagues, why hunger and the suffering that goes along with it have become so commonplace in our society. In SA, stunting and malnutrition have remained high in SA since 1994. Many countries in the same economic class as SA (upper middle-income countries, Umic) have been actively addressing stunting since the early 2000s. Starting on a similar level to SA in the early 2000s, with just over 20% of children being stunted, these Umic regions have reduced the prevalence of stunting to well below 10%.The trend line for SA is very different, with the percentage of stunted children increasing – now above 29%. In Umic it is possible to address stunting. Nelson Mandela, shortly after his release in 1990, stated in a speech before the US joint session of congress that the goal for SA was to reduce the number of stunted children. “we require an economy that is able to address the needs of all the people of our country, that can provide food, houses, education, health services, social security and everything that makes human life human, that makes life joyful and not a protracted encounter with hopelessness and despair”This quote poses three questions. First, whether SA’s economy is in fact “making human life human, making life joyful and not a protracted encounter with hopelessness and despair”? According to the statistics on stunting and malnutrition, the lives of many South Africans are not what was envisioned in the speech. Second, with the high levels of nutrition and diet challenges, why does this not generate more political and societal action? Third, how does our indifference towards the long-term suffering and marginalisation of people, including those who are disadvantaged, affect the lives of these people? “slow violence” Say about SA, what is the experience of a large section of society? It is clear that the economy works for some. The recent financial results of SA food system businesses show significant profits. Not all SA food system operators reflected the same profits, but the general trend is increasing profits and increased dividends paid to shareholders.Some are making significant profits from SA’s food system, while for others that same food system is unable to prevent their extreme hunger.The SA food system is clearly not serving the public good.Those who lack access to food are forced to suffer the indignity of hunger and the associated shame felt when unable to feed their families, often relying on charitable handouts.Why has the state not done more to ensure the constitutionally guaranteed right to food?In SA, food security is worsening; poverty and hunger have been normalised. What society can justify the suffering of so many people, especially children, and their subjugation to extreme hunger? This cannot be an easy way to explain state failure. The failure of the state to fill in the gaps is not the only problem. It’s not just about the poor being framed in a negative way. It is all of society that has failed SA, and particularly, SA’s children. The suffering of the children shows that SA as a nation has lost its humanity. As individuals and as a community, food can be a lens or litmus test to reveal our values. SA has ceased to care about the children who are suffering from stunting, and for most of them, a life filled with slow violence. Food security is an important public good that requires public sector intervention to ensure it is universal, interdependent and indivisible with other human right. However, this does not excuse the society from taking action. As a society we can no longer tolerate the slow violence that SA’s food system failure represents. All of us must act. As other countries have demonstrated, issues such as stunting are reversible. Dr Haysom is a senior urban food systems researcher at the University of Cape Town’s African Centre for Cities.
2025-11-13 06:39:38