Fight against hunger needs all hands on deck
The global community seems to be on the brink of precipice. And South Africa has
not been spared.
The interconnectedness of the global village has meant the doom and gloom that
has engulfed the world has reverberated onto our shores.
Power struggles between global super powers like the United States, Russia and
China, fought using proxy countries, have overshadowed and, to larger extent,
removed the hunger question from the top table. This is despite the fact that over
870 million people go to bed hungry on a daily basis.
According to the United Nations – almost 900 million people in the world do not have
enough to eat. But this number has been reduced by 130 million since 1990.
However progress slowed after 2008 due to the collapse in financial markets which
resulted in a recession.
Furthermore, the majority of the people that go hungry live in developing countries
such as SA.
Asia and the Pacific have the largest share of the world's hungry people (some 563
million) but the trend is downward.
The United Nations (UN) notes interestingly that “if women farmers had the same
access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by
up to 150 million.”
The major cause of hunger and malnutrition results in higher mortality rate. The UN
further notes that poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under
five - 3.1 million children each year. Also, one out of six children – roughly 100
million – in developing countries is underweight.
This is a sad indictment for the global community and it shows countries need to dig
deeper and find ways to uplift the poor in their midst.
That said, there is a glimmer of hope for South Africans, as evidenced in the
recently-released Stats SA Household Survey.
The report states that household access to food has improved according to two
measures. Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, which is aimed at
determining households’ access to food, the percentage of South African households
with inadequate or severely inadequate access to food decreased from 23.9 percent
in 2010 to 21.5 percent in 2012.
“During this time, the percentage of individuals that were at risk decreased from 28.6
percent to 26.1 percent. Between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of households that
experienced hunger decreased from 29.3 percent to 12.6 percent while the
percentage of individuals who experienced hunger decreased from 23.8 percent to
10.8 percent,” the report states.
These are encouraging signs on the part of the country, but we need to be vigorous
in our campaigns in the fight against hunger as more people are losing their jobs due
to the sluggish growth in the economy.
The Gauteng Provincial Government’s Buyisa Ubuntu Sustainable Livelihood
programme is one initiative that should be commended for its role in the fight against
hunger.
Mbali Ngwane, who is spearheading the programme says:
“The Department of Social Development realised that many individuals and
households still go to bed hungry and therefore initiated the establishment of
foodbanks within the province.
“The first foodbank was launched in 2009 and four additional foodbanks have since
been established. At present the department is able to provide food parcels within
the whole province to households that are in dire need.”
She further notes that the Buyisa Ubuntu Foodbank model is unique in South Africa
and should not be confused with services rendered by the Foodbank South Africa
and other initiatives in other provinces. In many instances other initiatives focus
mainly on the distribution of food as received through donations.
The department expanded the services of the foodbank and also provides services
to poor household where members of the household receive HIV/AIDS or TB
treatment. These beneficiaries are identified by social workers working for clinics
and hospitals.
“The foodbanks also provide support to families and households affected by
disasters like fires and floods. In these cases prepared meals and or blankets are
provided, depending on the needs of individual households as assessed by the
foodbanks,” added Ngwane.
At the last count, the Department of Social Development said it was feeding around
39 280 people around the province.
The work of the Social Development department has been complimented by the
efforts of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development which has
continued supporting food security initiatives in the province.
To fight the escalating prices of food and the threat to food security in the province
MEC Mayathula-Khoza said her department has provided starter pack garden
implements to 38 372 homestead food gardens, 240 community gardens with 3 030
project participants and 490 school food gardens.
This will ensure that those who do not have money can, at least, have something in
their tummies at the end of the day.
As Desmond Tutu once opined “it’s those little bits of good put together that
overwhelm the world.”
Vuyo Sabani works in the Communications Unit at the Gauteng Office of the
Premier. He writes in his personal capacity.