From 2002, the national statistical agency began to ask its household respondents in the General Household Survey “whether, and how often adults and children went hungry because there was not enough food in the household”. The responses to these questions over time reflect the degree of food insecurity observed in SA, a net food exporter. On the aggregate at least. So too do they reflect the institutional experience of administering large-scale welfare programmes to overcome food insecurity.

Nearly a third (29.3%) of respondents in 2002 said they experienced food insecurity. The number dropped remarkably to just above a tenth (11.1%) of the sample by 2019. Yet something happened during the pandemic such that by 2023, 15% of respondents suggested that their households were food insecure. Two related reasons may partly explain the shift. Focused interventions, to protect primarily children from want and need, have changed these relative perceptions of hunger. One reason the num...

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