STARVED OF OPTIONS: Hungry For Change, a series on SA’s hunger crisis
Exploring the impossible trade-offs families make to put food on the table, and the resilience keeping them afloat in backyard gardens to food stokvels. In this series, community journalists enter vulnerable homes to reveal how families fight hunger.
In South Africa, a hunger crisis is underway, as revealed by recent submissions to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)’s Inquiry into the country’s food system. This crisis affects a significant portion of the population, with more than 14 million people going hungry and over a thousand children losing their lives due to preventable acute malnutrition, according to the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC).
These figures emerged from the first phase of the inquiry, held in March this year, which heard evidence from various civil society organizations and government institutions. The second phase, held in July, shifted focus to the private sector involved in the food chain, including farmers, food manufacturers, and retailers.
This eight-part series, "Hungry For Change," aims to delve into the personal stories of families grappling with hunger, exploring the tough decisions they are forced to make due to insufficient financial resources. Community journalists will enter the homes of vulnerable communities across South Africa to document the sacrifices people make to ensure food is on the table.
The series will highlight how hunger impacts young children and older individuals, and how factors such as poor access to basic services, unemployment, and rising food costs influence the availability of meals for families. Additionally, some articles will focus on communities who have developed their own methods to cope with hunger, ranging from growing their own food to pooling resources through food stokvels.
A key component of this series is a photo essay titled "What's on your plate?" which will feature real meals consumed by households discussed in the stories. This essay will outline the cost of these meals, the number of people they feed, and their nutritional value. The ultimate goal of "Hungry For Change" is to provide readers with a vivid understanding of the realities of food insecurity in South Africa beyond mere statistics, as well as the desperate measures people employ to nourish their families.
The series is presented by Health-e News, reflecting the urgent need to address the issues plaguing South Africa's food system.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
