Let me share some thoughts with you. Let me be a source of encouragement and support. May you never forget your dreams and remember miracles happen every day. Let us laugh, have fun, and inspire one another.
Introduction:
Imagine a four-year-old, small for their age, too tired to play with friends,
struggling to focus in a classroom because their stomach is empty. This is the
reality for nearly one in four children in South Africa, who are stunted due to
poor nutrition in the womb and early childhood. Hunger is not just the absence
of food—it steals potential, dreams, and opportunities.
The Human
Cost:
Take Thabo, a little boy from a rural village. His mother could not access
enough nutritious food during pregnancy, and his family struggles to put
balanced meals on the table. Today, Thabo is smaller than other children his
age, often sick, and falls behind in school. Stories like his are far too
common: malnutrition in early life leads to stunting, cognitive delays, and a
lifelong struggle against poverty.
Why This
Happens:
Child hunger in South Africa is fueled by multiple factors:
·Poverty
and inequality: Families without steady income cannot afford healthy,
diverse foods.
·Maternal
malnutrition: Women lacking access to adequate nutrition give birth to
babies already at risk.
·Food
insecurity: Remote and marginalized communities often have limited
access to fresh, nutritious food.
·Education
gaps: Parents may not have the knowledge or resources to provide
balanced diets.
The
Ripple Effects:
Stunting and malnutrition don’t just affect childhood—they limit a lifetime. A
stunted child is more likely to struggle in school, face chronic illness, and
remain trapped in poverty, continuing the cycle into the next generation.
What Can
Be Done:
Ending child hunger requires bold, coordinated action:
1.Support mothers:
Prenatal care and nutritious food during pregnancy can prevent stunting from
the very start.
2.Feed children in
early years: School feeding programs, fortified foods, and
breastfeeding support are critical.
3.Empower
communities: Local gardens, nutrition workshops, and community
kitchens make healthy food accessible.
4.Strengthen social
safety nets: Partnerships between government, NGOs, and private sector
can provide food, healthcare, and education support.
5.Educate
caregivers: Knowledge about nutrition, hygiene, and early childhood
development can save lives and futures.
A Call
to Action:
Ending severe child hunger is possible—but it needs all of us. Donors,
policymakers, NGOs, and citizens must unite to ensure every child has the
chance to grow, play, and learn. Supporting children’s nutrition today is
investing in South Africa’s leaders, innovators, and change-makers of tomorrow.
Conclusion:
No child should go to bed hungry, and no dream should be limited by the lack of
a meal. Together, we can break the cycle of malnutrition, empower families, and
give every South African child the foundation they need to thrive. Let’s act
now—for Thabo, for every child, for a stronger future.
A 2024 Unicef report found that 23% of South African children experience severe food poverty, eating less than two of the recommended five food groups per day. Unemployment, food insecurity, limited access to basic services and a lack of knowledge about nutrition all contribute to this. The lead researcher of this multidisciplinary study, Leila Patel, and collaborating researchers Matshidiso Sello and Sadiyya Haffejee suggest ways to tackle this dire situation.
What’s in place to protect children from poverty?
Since a call for prioritising the needs of children was adopted by the Mandela government in 1994, much progress has been made in expanding access to education, to immunisations, other primary healthcare services and social grants. Just over 13 million children now receive a child support grant. This has reduced child hunger rates from the high levels seen during the apartheid and immediate post-apartheid eras.
But the grant doesn’t get to all the children who qualify for it. Around 17.5% of eligible children still don’t receive it. Reasons include a lack of proper documentation, lack of awareness of eligibility criteria and insufficient outreach by government agencies to reach vulnerable populations.
Also, the grant isn’t close enough to the food poverty line, which is R796 (about US$43) per month per person based on the daily energy intake that a person needs. From 1 April 2025, the child support grant will increase to R560 (about US$30) per month per child.
Secondly, although school feeding schemes are in place, many children fall outside the net. Close to 10 million children in low income communities in South Africa have access to a school lunch via the National School Nutrition Programme. This programme is an excellent intervention which improves the health of children. However, in 2024, about a quarter of the children who are eligible did not receive school meals. Some of the reasons are procurement issues, funding delays, problems with provisioning, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, when school feeding ceased. Uptake has recovered to some extent but there is a need to improve the quality and effectiveness of the school feeding programme to improve nutritional outcomes.
You designed a system to help alleviate child poverty: what did it involve?
The South African Research Chairs Initiative and the Centre for Social Development in Africa at the University of Johannesburg implemented a study to strengthen social and care systems across health, education and social development. The project, which was started in 2020, involved tracking early grade learners and their caregivers in Johannesburg over a three-year period, looking at their health, material circumstances, food security, educational performance and mental health. Our research revealed a concerning picture of child hunger in Johannesburg, Africa’s wealthiest city.
The number of children in our study who went to bed hungry in the past week decreased from 13.7% in 2020 to 4.9% in 2022. Zero hunger was achieved in 2021 but it increased again in 2022 due to broader economic pressures like rising food prices and unemployment. While stunting rates showed a slight downward trend over the three years (from 13.5% in 2020 to 11.1% in 2022), we observed worrying increases in wasting, a severe form of malnutrition (from 5.6% in 2020 to 20.3% in 2022), and underweight (from 5.6% in 2020 to 11.4% in 2022).
Increases in wasting may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic and slow economic recovery. Nevertheless, the fluctuating figures underscore the complex interplay of factors contributing to severe child hunger.
The teams who worked on the project – called the Community of Practice intervention – set about creating a tighter, more supportive net around children experiencing severe and moderate risk. This integrated approach brought together government agencies, NGOs, schools, social workers, families and community leaders, to build sustainable solutions for child wellbeing.
The focus was on strengthening existing systems and fostering collaboration to ensure that children’s needs were identified and addressed effectively. On average, 157 children were reached each year over a three year period.
What did you find?
Several promising practices emerged from the collaborations, demonstrating the potential for positive change. These included:
Strengthening school nutrition programmes by improving the quality and consistency of meals received and providing nutrition education through radio and WhatsApp messaging. More children had access to school meals.
Tailored interventions: The team conducted screenings to assess the needs of children and their families. Children requiring specific interventions were referred to appropriate services such as child protection services and grants. Caregivers facing mental health challenges were connected to psychosocial support services, and families experiencing hunger were provided with food parcels by NGOs. Providing food top-ups for children resulted in zero hunger in the second year of the pandemic.
The number of children experiencing learning and social and emotional difficulties decreased between 2020 and 2022. Access to food and nutrition improved, higher vaccination rates were achieved and caregivers were more responsive to their health needs.
What does this tell you about what needs to change?
A significant barrier in addressing severe child poverty is the fragmentation of services across the Departments of Health, Basic Education and Social Development. Since the departments run standalone programmes, the synergies between the different social systems are not optimised. Children and their families who need additional support are often referred to the appropriate services, but there is poor follow-up.
The Integrated School Health Policy of 2012 makes provision for better coordination between these departments. But implementation has been uneven and poor in some instances. Improving and strengthening these inter-connected social systems of service provision across government departments is critical to improving child food poverty outcomes.
While managing food inflation, economic growth, job creation, and reduced inequality are important longer-term goals, immediate interventions are essential to address severe child food poverty. Failure to do so will compromise school progression and delay their overall health and social wellbeing. Simply improving economic indicators will not automatically translate to food on the table for every child; targeted interventions are vital.
Ending severe child hunger in South Africa demands a comprehensive and coordinated response, involving government, NGOs, community organisations, schools, and families themselves.
Food insecurity is associated with worse academic outcomes.
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The spectre of food insecurity unfortunately haunts many households in South Africa.
Food security is commonly understood as having sufficient and nutritious food to live a healthy, active life. Access to sufficient food is a basic human right and is enshrined in the South African constitution.
Estimates from Statistics South Africa show that the proportion of households experiencing some form of food insecurity rose between 2019 and 2023 from 15.8% to 19.7%. Many households still seem to be feeling the pressure of slow economic growth and consumer price inflation. And a third of South Africans are unemployed.
These pressures affect students too.
The South African higher education sector has made great strides in making tertiary education more accessible. While the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was established to broaden access to post-school education, by providing for fees, accommodation and a stipend, levels of food insecurity among university students remain high.
It’s hard to say just how high. Sometimes students seek assistance discreetly due to stigma. What we do know is that while the 2025 NSFAS research report talks about a 5% increase in funding, Statistics South Africa figures show inflation rates higher than that for basic food items.
Education researchers are interested in this because food insecurity is associated with worse academic outcomes among university students. It’s linked to lower class attendance and lower academic performance, among other indicators, which then affects their psychological wellbeing.
However, most of this research is based on traditional (full-time) university students. Students in open, distance and e-learning institutions are under-researched when it comes to food insecurity. Distance learning students form a third of all tertiary education students enrolled in South African universities: 371,592 students, according to 2023 audited figures.
My research interests are in how students learn, cope and succeed. My aim is to help university management and academics understand the issues that students face. One of these is food insecurity.
In a study conducted on 7,494 students from a South African distance learning institution, I found that only 27.9% of those surveyed were food secure and 71.7% (5,380 individuals) were moderately to severely food insecure.
The finding is worrying when considered along with the negative impact that food insecurity has on academic outcomes, physical and psychological well-being.
Food insecurity among this group of students cannot be ignored. I recommend that a system of food grants should be considered.
Which students were the most food insecure
The sample of students was drawn from a South African public open, distance and e-learning institution with approximately 370,000 students. These students were from all walks of life. The majority of respondents (5,670) were female; 23% were male (1,705). The institution as a whole has a 70:30 female-to-male ratio.
About 61% (4,573) of respondents were the first in their immediate family to attend tertiary education. About 12% (896) were members of the LGBTI+ community. It was important to consider this group as some research shows they are disproportionately affected by food insecurity.
Only one in five of respondents were working full time and 14% were studying full time. The biggest group (26%) were unemployed and looking for work; 21% were not looking for work. The remainder were engaged in various forms of employment and study.
The majority (43%) indicated that they were dependent on some form of government grant as their main income, followed by 26% who relied on salaries or wages, 10% who were reliant on their parents and 12% who had no form of income. In terms of household income, 40% earned up to R1,200 (about US$68) per month.
When this data was broken down further, stark patterns of food access emerged.
those who identified as Black Africans reported the highest levels of food insecurity (42%)
43.8% of first generation students reported severe food insecurity (compared with 27% of other students who were not first generation students)
members of the LGBTQ+ community were also found to be more at risk of severe food insecurity than the total response population.
Impact of food insecurity on students
Food insecurity has a negative impact on academic outcomes and on physical and psychological wellbeing.
Students may repurpose funds intended for study purposes to buy food, leaving them without the necessary materials to participate effectively in their education.
Psychological impacts of food insecurity can include increased rates of depression and anxiety associated with concerns around obtaining sufficient food.
Students may consume poor, more affordable food, higher in energy density but lower in nutrients.
Food pantries and grants
Open, distance and e-learning institutions face a challenge when it comes to addressing food insecurity. Students are geographically dispersed and may be enrolled in large numbers. The food pantry programmes found in contact institutions are simply not viable as the infrastructure required is large and costly.
Food pantry programmes are one of the most widely used interventions to combat food insecurity at universities globally. Common barriers to use are the stigma associated with using them, high rate of volunteer staff turnover, location of the programmes and complexity of eligibility criteria, among others.
Given the findings, I suggest that food grants for distance education students are necessary. Public-private partnerships could be explored, too, to address the issue of distance education student hunger.
