South Africa’s food security is at its lowest level in more than 10 years, according to an index produced by a major supermarket group.
Shoprite’s latest food security index raised the alarm over rising hunger levels in the country, Business Day reported.
According to the retailer’s 2025 food security index, 21% of children under the age of five are stunted due to malnutrition, a rate unusually high for a middle-income country. This is lower than the 28.8% reported by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) last year.
Shoprite said in its latest annual report that child stunting levels reflected deep challenges in food affordability and access, Business Day reported. Consumers were under severe pressure in the face of subdued economic growth and high unemployment.
“At a personal level, I am particularly troubled by the country’s staggering rate of youth unemployment and by the number of households that are dependent on government grants and that lack adequate access to nutrition,” Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said in a letter to shareholders.
“Addressing this profound nutritional challenge, and that of youth unemployment, is critical to maintaining social stability and to strengthening the resilience of our business.”
Business Day also reported that nearly 4,500 children younger than five years old died in SA in the past five years due to malnutrition. KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most deaths and the Western Cape the fewest.
“This startling data was disclosed by health minister Aaron Motsoaledi in reply to a parliamentary question earlier this year. Motsoaledi said that since 2020, 4,447 children under the age of five died in SA, their deaths being associated with ‘but not necessarily caused by moderate acute malnutrition or severe acute malnutrition’.
“Nearly 3,000 of the deaths reported in public hospitals in the period under review had evidence of severe acute malnutrition.”
Shoprite said it hoped the government of national unity’s medium-term development plan would address food security challenges and stimulate growth and investment.
Commenting on the Shoprite index, agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo emphasised that South Africa remained food secure at national level. Rising hunger levels were because low-income households could not afford a nutritious diet.
“Therefore, addressing income poverty at the household level must be the centre of any strategy to address food insecurity,” he said in his blog, which cited a survey on food security published by Stats SA this year.
Increasing food security for poor people required “coordinated efforts to grow the South African economy, lift employment across various sectors, and provide appropriate support to vulnerable households,” Sihlobo noted.
“Despite the concerning trend in Stats SA’s survey, South Africa remains food secure and is a net exporter of agricultural products at the national level. Exports are necessary for sustaining farming incomes, generating the resources needed for investment, and ultimately, the sector’s ability to create and maintain jobs.
“Notably, South Africa does not export its food supplies without appropriately considering the domestic food needs at the national level. Moreover, the country’s food prices remain relatively moderate. Despite this, food insecurity will remain a challenge if households have little to no income,” Sihlobo said.
Editorial comment:
FairPlay believes that one of the ways to address South Africa’s widespread food insecurity would be to expand the basket of essential foods that are exempt from the country’s 15% value added tax (VAT). FairPlay has campaigned since 2018 for VAT-free chicken – the removal of VAT from the chicken portions must consumed by poor households.
