THE FOOD CHAIN

Eight young farmers from the Sustainability Institute’s AgroEcology Academy have joined the Living Soils Community Learning Farm initiative.

REINVENTING THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

Ensuring fair play for all along the food chain requires change and collaboration. By TREVOR CRIGHTON

The latest National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile (NIDS-CRAM) survey and the 2020 South Africa Child Gauge, an annual publication of the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, both demonstrate compelling evidence that the South African food system is not working.

Dr Scott Drimie, director of the Southern Africa Food Lab (SAFL), says that hunger is Mgolodela adds that the increased rife and food access is a daily struggle for expectation for value under economic more than 14 million South Africans. “The food pressures has seen the company collaborate choices facing households across its supply chain to help are shaped in powerful ways customers. “For example, we by their immediate food have worked closely with our environment and the broader suppliers to invest in the price food system. This includes all of our poultry products, making the elements involved in taking them available at a more food from the producer to the accessible price,” she says. consumer,” he says. SAFL aims to expose the

Zinzi Mgolodela, director power inequities in the food of corporate affairs at system and drive change. In Woolworths, says that Zinzi Mgolodela terms of providing a fairer and shared value creation is smoother path from farmer essential throughout all to plate, Drimie says that an processes and engagements around the innovation – leading to better equality in the supply chain to ensure fairness. “Our food food system – is the development of shorter supply chain strategy is, in part, informed by supply chains that connect farmers directly with the consciousness of food insecurity in South consumers. “With short supply chains there Africa. Broadening access to food cuts across are fewer opportunities for profi teering along how our food is grown through our Farming the chain and farmers can shift closer to being for the Future programme to the nutritional price-makers, rather than price-takers,” he says. content in food, waste management and, According to the World Wide Fund for Nature ultimately, how that positively impacts the price (WWF), South Africa will have to double its food of the product,” she says. production by 2050 to support the needs of its

“With short supply chains there are fewer opportunities for profiteering along the chain and farmers can shift closer to being price-makers, rather than price-takers.” – Dr Scott

Drimie, director, Southern Africa Food Lab

population. “Assuming moderate demographic change, fairly rapid economic growth and effective technological development, the agricultural sector will be able to meet the growing food demand of a larger, even more urbanised and wealthier South African society in 2050,” says Drimie.

“Nevertheless, success is not guaranteed and will require comprehensive strategies for managing land and water use, research and investment to sustain yield growth, strategies for the production and distribution of adequate and high-nutrient food and addressing environmental concerns focused on the conservation of the productive land in South Africa.”

CHILD HUNGER IN SA

The National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile survey shows that the proportion of respondents who reported experiencing hunger since the start of lockdown increased from 4.3 to 7.0 per cent, indicative of the risk of greater food insecurity in the country as a result of COVID-19.

Just under 30 per cent of households indicated that a child had gone hungry every day or almost every day in the past week in both wave 1 and 2 of reporting, while 24 per cent of households reported this in wave 3.

Before the pandemic, the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) played an important role in providing relief of child hunger. About 21 per cent of respondents indicated that children in their households were receiving school meals during July/August – for the rst time since schools were closed in March – and this proportion increased to 45 per cent in November/December.