Analysts might have predicted that South Africa might face a food security ‘Doomsday’ in a few years to come due to dwindling capacity of the commercial farming sector. But for the majority of South Africans this is already a reality, according to results of a study by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, which was published on The Conversation Africa website.
While privileged South Africans have a luxury of dining in five-star eateries, up to 70% of households in South Africa’s informal settlements have no choice but skip meals or eat the same meal on most days.
Researcher, Nisha Naicker, observes that a familiar pattern is that breadwinners regularly struggle to provide meals or worry about having no food or money to buy food. In addition, the dilemma of food insecurity is most likely to hit households with children the most.
While the population for the research was targeted at the City of Johannesburg, its results are depict a picture of the situation in the whole of South Africa.
“Our research found that the level of food security remains significantly high in the country – despite it being a basic human right,” explains Naicker.
It is already upon us. Some people in squatter camps cannot afford even a loaf of bread and soup.