CHILD NUTRITION: New tool shows the true cost of nutritious meals for children at ECD centres

The ECD Nutrition Basket, a new tool tracking food costs in early childhood development (ECD) centres, highlights the disparity between the R9.60 government allocation for nutrition and the true cost of providing nutritious meals to children. This tool, launched in October 2026 by the Zero2Five Trust, Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, and public health nutrition consultant Philippa Barnard, translates national nutrition guidance into a defined food requirement that can be planned, quantified, costed, and monitored over time.

Piloted in August and September 2026, the tool revealed the gaps between the nutrition allocation and the actual food costs. For instance, children aged nine to 23 months required R7.35 per day, while those aged two to six needed R13.06 per day. The basket's menu, based on a one-week practical plan, includes diverse food groups such as fortified staples, vegetables, fruit, legumes, eggs, tinned fish, milk, and maas.

In practice, a 20-child ECD centre with 20% younger children and 80% older children had estimated food costs of R11.92 per child per day, or R4,768.47 monthly. Even with the ECD subsidy covering 40% of the cost, R928 per month remains a shortfall for food purchases. The basket's current scope includes only food ingredients, excluding labour, cooking fuel, cleaning materials, and equipment costs.

Practitioners in Mkhambathini Local Municipality near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal expressed challenges in providing adequate nutrition, such as delayed subsidy payments and rising food prices. They called for increased funding for nutrition costs and timely subsidy payments. Barnard emphasized the importance of visible cost transparency for ECD centres and stakeholders, aiming to improve children's nutritional intake and raise the standard of what constitutes adequate feeding.