South Africa’s widespread food insecurity could only be addressed through economic growth that reduced poverty levels, according to agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo.
In his blog, Sihlobo noted that South Africa was food secure as a nation, but had millions of hungry people in poor households.
This led to criticism of South Africa’s food exports while people starved at home, he said.
“The deteriorating food security is not due to a lack of nutritious, high-quality food and safe food products or high prices. Access seems to be the fundamental challenge, especially for households with no regular income sources.
“Therefore, addressing income poverty at the household level must be the centre of any strategy to address food insecurity.,” he said.
“Clearly, this challenge cannot be resolved by the agricultural sector alone but through coordinated efforts to grow the South African economy, lift employment across various sectors, and provide appropriate support to vulnerable households.”
South Africa was a net exporter of agricultural products.
“Exports are necessary for sustaining farming incomes, generating the resources needed for investment, and ultimately, the sector’s ability to create and sustain jobs.”
Sihlobo has previously estimated that six million South Africans do not have enough to eat.
In his latest blog, he noted that the Economist had rated South Africa the most food secure country in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second most food-secure country in Africa, after Morocco.
Yet, in February this year, Statistics South Africa had released a three-year food security report showing rising hunger levels in low-income households.
“The report’s most striking observation was that the proportion of households in South Africa that experienced moderate to severe food insecurity was estimated at 15.8% in 2019, 16.2% in 2022, and 19.7% in 2023. Over this period, the proportion of households that experienced severe food insecurity was estimated to be 6.4%, 7.5%, and 8.0%, respectively.”
Food insecurity would remain a challenge “if households have little or no income,” Sihlobo said.
