Since 1960 the world has produced enough food to feed everybody yet, with few exceptions globally, hunger -- or food insecurity -- has increased.
South Africa is one of a handful of countries that is capable of providing enough food for its people. Each year, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) produces a study of what each country produces (you can see our full country profile here). While the study is fairly in depth, this is what South Africa produces per person per day:
What South Africa produces per person per day |
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600 g of starchy foods
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300 g of fruit & vegetables
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150g of meat and fish
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Despite this, over 11 million South Africans are "food insecure"; in other words, don't know where their next meal is coming from. Hunger and malnutrition are crippling conditions for almost a quarter of the country's population; that's 1 out of every 4 people. Poverty and food insecurity are rife in urban areas of South Africa, but the rural areas where approximately two thirds of the country's poor live are hit even harder. The resulting hardship and vulnerability represents one of the greatest impediments to our social, emotional and economic development.
In South Africa, hunger is not a matter of supply. We can grow enough food. Rather the problem is one of access and logistics.
Every day huge volumes of good food are wasted. Why is this, when the country has thousands of worthy agencies, not-for-profit organisations and programmes trying to secure food for the needy?
Over the past 17 years, both the private sector and civil society have tried to address escalating hunger and malnutrition. However, with little cooperation between these sectors, the response has been fractured and the impact inadequate. The result? Huge, avoidable and unacceptable inefficiencies: unharvested crops, unused manufacturing products and wasted surpluses of quality food.
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