WATCH | The role of ethical leadership in addressing child hunger

Despite SA producing enough food to feed its population, the country faces a food crisis that also affects the most vulnerable: our children. 

The National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) reported that just over a quarter of the SA's households (27%) contained a child that had experienced hunger almost every day, or every day the week before they were interviewed, in April/May 2021. 

Millions of children suffer from malnutrition, which is caused by shortages of vitamins and minerals in their diet. This has been the trend over the past 20 years. A 2022 UN Food Systems Profile found that the country is facing a "triple burden of malnutrition", including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity.

Malnutrition leads to stunted growth, and just over a quarter of children under five (27%) were reported as having stunted growth as of 2016. The Child Support Grant that supports more than 12-million children (61% of all SA's children), though crucial, has not adequately addressed child hunger.

So, what should the country's government, business sector and faith communities do to urgently address this critical issue?

A panel of experts unpacked this question during a recent Business Day Dialogue, hosted in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Ecumenical Foundation of Southern Africa.

Moderated by best-selling author and broadcast journalist Joanne Joseph, the panel included:

• Prof Andrew Boraine, CEO of the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership;
• Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican archbishop of Cape Town;
• Prof Julian May, a member of the National Planning Commission;
• Dr. Chantell Witten, a researcher at the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security at the University of the Western Cape; and
• Omri van Zyl, CEO of Agri SA Enterprises.

Watch the recording of this panel discussion above.