More South Africans are experiencing higher levels of food insecurity, according to the latest report by Statistics SA (StatsSA).
Rising hunger levels, caused by poverty, inequality and unemployment, were now a national crisis, the agency stated.
Despite the country being food secure at a national level, some five million households – more than a quarter of all households – suffered some level of food insecurity in 2023.
StatsSA’s food security report compared food security levels in South Africa in 2019, 2022 and 2023. The proportion of households experiencing food insecurity rose steadily over that period.
Households experiencing severe food insecurity went up from 6.4% in 2019 to 7.5% in 2022 and 8% in 2023. This measure is closely related to hunger, StatsSA says, and “is experienced by people who have typically run out of food and, at worst, have gone a day (or days) without eating”.
Households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity rose from 15.8% in 2019 to 16.2% in 2022 and 19.7% in 2023. These households will typically eat low-quality diets and might also have been forced to reduce the quantity of food consumed.
The province worst affected was the Northern Cape, where 34.5% of all households experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, and a further 16.6% faced severe food insecurity.
Limpopo had the least food insecurity in 2023 – 5.7% of households faced severe food insecurity and 2.1% experienced severe food insecurity. North West province had the second worst food security levels, and the Western Cape the second best.
Households where nobody has a job, and those with six or more individuals, had the highest rates of moderate and severe food insecurity, the report said.
The statistics showed that social grants were an inadequate safety net for hungry millions – food insecurity kept rising despite the widespread payments of social grants. StatsSA estimated that, in 2023, 26.6% of households receiving social grants experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, while a further 10.3% of households receiving social grants faced severe food insecurity.
“The ‘triple challenge’ in South Africa, which includes poverty, inequality, and unemployment, consists of interrelated socio-economic issues that are important for tackling the household food insecurity crisis in the country,” StatsSA said.
“One mechanism to address the ‘triple challenge’ is by enhancing economic growth, which has consistently fallen short of anticipated levels. Consequently, to effectively tackle the issue of food insecurity, it is essential to elevate economic growth to a level capable of addressing the challenges associated with household food insecurity,” the report concluded.
