WANDILE SIHLOBO: Good food security ranking does not mean an end to hunger
Despite robust agricultural production there is a need to tackle food insecurity
The medium-term budget policy statement has addressed some of our bread-and-butter issues, but now that it is behind us it is time to reflect on another: food security. We have seen some rather pessimistic media coverage of the SA agricultural sector over the past couple of months due to policy uncertainty. On October 16, the Economist Intelligence Unit highlighted the contribution of the SA agricultural sector to ensuring food security, ranking SA 45th out of 113 countries in the 2018 global food security index, making it the only African country within the top 50. The index evaluates the most critical aspects of food security, namely affordability and availability, as well as quality and safety. A close look into these subindices shows that SA ranks highly in availability, measured at 35 out of 113. However, boasting about this ranking when millions of South Africans go to bed hungry every day is contradictory, as has been pointed out to me after a few presentations where I cited ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.