Latest news with #WorldHungerDay
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Maverick
SA food system ‘is not broken' — there is a lack of will to ensure food security
On World Hunger Day, Gauteng MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development Vuyiswa Ramokgopa was among the keynote speakers at the Union Against Hunger (UAH) community meeting in Lenasia South, Johannesburg, calling for an end to hunger. This was one of multiple information and capacity-building events planned by the organisation. MEC Vuyiswa Ramokgopa commended Union Against Hunger for bringing stakeholders together to begin the process of demanding change and fighting against hunger. She likened public and civil society collaboration to a soccer team, with all players having a significant role to play. 'I love what UAH has done in bringing others into the fold, that is exactly how we need to address these issues. We need to foster a safe, prosperous, hunger-free South Africa in one generation. We can't wait for 30 years, we don't have 30 years. That's why, as a department, we have committed to a reduction of 10% in this province by 2029. It doesn't sound like a lot, but that is at least 250,000 people no longer experiencing hunger. Let's end hunger,' said Ramokgopa Despite progressive constitutional guarantees, including the right to food and basic nutrition, millions of South Africans still face chronic and acute hunger. This mismatch between legal promises and lived deprivation is the focus of the Union Against Hunger (UAH). 'This year, on World Hunger Day, 28 May 2025, the UAH will be hosting a number of dialogues nationally to engage communities and the public and share information that will better enable and support the mobilisation of communities to demand their right to food and hold government and industry to account,' said Dr Busiso Moyo, member of the UAH secretariat and postdoctoral researcher with the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security. 'The food system is not broken,' Moyo said at the mini-food indaba UAH event in Cape Town, which was held simultaneously. 'It is working exactly as intended, to accommodate some and exclude many.' The UAH, with its founding members, which include the Healthy Living Alliance, Grow Great, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Women on Farms Project, Callas Foundation and the Centre of Excellence in Food Security, will, through these activities, draw attention to the 'slow violence' of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity in South Africa. Civil society organisations all echoed that hunger needed political will and a policy fit for purpose, over and above citizens understanding their right to food. The Women on Farms organisation chaired a public meeting in Cape Town and called on Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht to urgently drop food prices to save lives. Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, said the painful daily reality that haunted communities needed to be confronted — 'the stomachs that go to sleep empty, the children whose growth is stunted, and the families forced to choose between a loaf of bread and a school uniform'. According to Union Against Hunger, about 15.3 million people (25.8% of the population) experience food insecurity, while 6.8 million people (11.4% of the population) face chronic hunger. More than 1.5 million children have stunted growth as a result of chronic malnutrition. More shocking is that three infants die daily due to severe malnutrition in a country where the Constitution clearly states that 'everyone has a right to sufficient food and every child to basic nutrition'. 'These are not just numbers,' said Vavi. 'They are a national scandal. Comrades, what are the sources of this crisis? First, we must talk about land. Hunger in South Africa is rooted in land dispossession. It is a direct legacy of colonialism and apartheid. To this day, 72% of farmland remains in white hands. While land restitution was meant to reverse this injustice, the government has failed dismally,' said Vavi Vavi said that by 2022, more than 90% of land claims resulted in financial compensation, not the return of land. Of the land that had been returned, more than 70% lay fallow, abandoned, because there was no post-settlement support, no equipment, no inputs, no training, no credit. The state had set people up to fail. 'Instead of a redistribution programme that empowers the landless to produce food and employment, we are witnessing a slow surrender to the land hunger of mining houses, golf estates and commercial elites,' said Vavi He said that the food system was rigged against the poor. 'Let's talk about the profiteering of the big food monopolies. Just six companies dominate our food retail sector – and they are making obscene profits while our people starve. In 2023, the CEO of Shoprite, Pieter Engelbrecht, earned a package of R63.5-million. That's over R170,000 per day – enough to feed over 2,000 families daily on the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group's household food basket. 'Meanwhile, food prices have risen more than double the CPI. The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group shows that in April 2025, the average food basket cost over R5,500 while most workers earn less than R4,000.' 'This is not just a market failure. It is criminal greed. 'Third, we must expose the double standards of global trade,' said Vavi. The Union Against Hunger also launched a petition (available here in English; here in isiZulu; here in Sesotho; here in isiXhosa) calling on Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht, who reportedly earned R83-million in the 2024 financial year, to bring food prices down urgently. The three main demands are:
Hans India
2 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Food distribution vehicles to reach out to poor
Visakhapatnam: In order to reach out to the poor and satiate their hunger, food distribution vehicles were flagged off in the city on Wednesday. Marking the World Hunger Day, the vehicles were launched by Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Visakhapatnam as part of its corporate social responsibility. After inaugurating the vehicles, Visakhapatnam South constituency MLA Ch Vamsi Krishna Srinivas Yadav lauded the efforts of the jewellery group for catering to the needs of the weaker sections. Appreciating the group's management, the MLA said the jewellery group allocated Rs.150 crore for the initiative. He said that the group has been organizing various service oriented programmes in the fields of healthcare, education, poverty eradication, women empowerment, environmental protection, and construction of houses for the poor through the Hunger Free World scheme.
United News of India
3 days ago
- Business
- United News of India
Malabar Group allocates Rs 150 crore for CSR in 2025-26
New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) Malabar Group, one of India's leading business conglomerates and parent company of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, has announced a substantial allocation of Rs 150 crore for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes in the financial year 2025-26. The fund will be deployed to expand initiatives across healthcare, education, hunger and poverty alleviation, women empowerment, environment protection, and housing for the underprivileged. On World Hunger Day, the Group reaffirmed its commitment under the flagship 'Hunger Free World' project to distribute 70,000 meals daily across India and Zambia, amounting to a total of 2.5 crore meals in 2025-26. This marks a significant increase compared to the 2.5 crore meals served over the past three years since the programme's inception. The initiative aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2 – Zero Hunger. Dr Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and G-20 Sherpa, inaugurated the next phase of the Group's CSR activities. Present at the event were MP Ahammed, Chairman of Malabar Group; KP Abdul Salam, Vice Chairman; O Asher, Managing Director of India Operations; Group Executive Directors Nishad AK and KP Veerankutty; Group Director PA Abdulla Ibrahim; Dr Idrees V, Chairman of THANAL Daya Rehabilitation Trust; Jishad NK, Zonal Head – North, and other senior officials. Commenting on the initiative, Ahammed said, "At Malabar Group, CSR is an integral part of our culture and we believe in giving back to society. May 28 is dedicated as our annual CSR day, where we reaffirm our pledge to stand with the underserved through sustained and impactful action. "While we are doing our utmost, a greater impact can be achieved if more organisations join this mission. With 295 million people globally facing acute hunger as per UN data, immediate action is non-negotiable. Our Hunger Free World initiative reflects this urgency, focusing on meal distribution alongside efforts to boost food production, create jobs, and foster sustainable economic growth." Currently, the Hunger Free World project distributes over 60,000 nutrient-rich meals daily through 167 centres across 20 states in India. In Zambia, the Group partners with the government to serve 10,000 meals daily to students in three schools. The kitchens operate with modern equipment and are staffed by trained culinary and hygiene personnel. In addition to hunger alleviation, the Group's educational initiatives include 716 micro-learning centres providing primary education and nutrition to street children across India. Over 32,000 children have enrolled, with 9,000 integrated into formal schooling, in collaboration with THANAL. Scholarships have been awarded to 1,14,000 girls to support their education. The Group's 'Grandma Homes' initiative offers free shelter and care to destitute women, with operational centres in Bengaluru, Kerala, and Hyderabad, and plans to expand to Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai. On healthcare, Malabar Group plans to establish non-profit medical stores offering subsidised medicines across 140 locations in Kerala, with 27 stores already operational. The 'Uyirppu Project' supports higher education for children affected by last year's Wayanad landslide, providing financial aid to 134 students. Since inception, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has consistently allocated 5% of its profits towards social welfare programmes. UNI BDN GNK
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Ten unacceptable facts about hunger in South Africa on World Hunger Day
World Hunger Day is more appropriate than World Food Day for South Africa to commemorate. Lack of food is not a problem in our country; hunger is the problem. Many South Africans have heard of World Food Day (16 October), but probably way fewer have heard of World Hunger Day (28 May). In 2011, The Hunger Project launched World Hunger Day to call attention to the global food crisis. The vision for World Hunger Day 2030 is a world where no person lacks access to adequate nutritious food. Importantly, World Hunger Day does not see donating meals to hungry people as a sustainable solution. Instead, the solution lies in empowering hungry people, and addressing the underlying social and economic inequities that cause hunger. Ending hunger requires systemic change. By empowering communities facing hunger, we can transform the systems of inequity that keep hunger in place. We argue that World Hunger Day is more appropriate than World Food Day for South Africa to commemorate. Lack of food is not a problem in our country; hunger is the problem. This apparent paradox is easy to explain. There is more than enough food in South Africa, but millions of South Africans do not have access to sufficient food, because of poverty, unemployment, food waste, and inadequate government interventions such as social grants. Here are 10 reasons why South Africans should take World Hunger Day seriously. Ten unacceptable facts about hunger in South Africa A total of 1,000 children die from severe acute malnutrition every year. Malnutrition is the underlying cause of a further 10,000 child deaths every year, accounting for one-third of all child deaths in South Africa. More than 5 million children under five (29%) are stunted, or too short for their age. This has increased from 27% in 2016. The global target is to halve stunting by 2030. Only one in five infants (22%) under six months old are exclusively breastfed. The global target is 50% by 2025. A total of 10 million tons of food goes to waste every year, equivalent to one-third of 31 million tons This wasted food could generate 30 billion meals, enough to feed all hungry people in South Africa for more than a year. The Child Support Grant, at R560/month, is 30% below the food poverty line, and 42% less than the cost of a nutritious diet for a child. Farm workers suffer severe seasonal hunger, rising from less than 50% in summer (farming season) to over 85% in winter (when they have no work). A worker earning the national minimum wage (R28.79/hour), after electricity and transport costs, can buy less than half (41%) of a nutritious diet for a family of four. A total of 14 million South Africans, or 25% of the population, survive below the food poverty line, which is set at R796 per person per month. One in five households (21%) have inadequate access to food. Female-headed households are more affected (24%) than male-headed households (18%). Twenty-four percent of black and 19% of coloured South Africans, but only 3% of Indians and whites, have inadequate access to food. The Union Against Hunger The Union Against Hunger (UAH), a social justice movement with founding members that include civil society organisations like the Healthy Living Alliance (Heala) coalition, Grow Great and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, see World Hunger Day as an opportunity to spotlight food injustice and advocate for upholding the constitutional right to food. On World Hunger Day 2025, the Union Against Hunger and partners are organising public meetings in three cities: Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The UAH has also launched a petition (sign it here) calling on Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht to bring food prices down urgently. Reducing food prices is one of 10 demands that the UAH is making. Others include: halve child stunting by 2030; raise the Child Support Grant to the food poverty line and introduce a Maternal Support Grant; extend early childhood development and school nutrition to all children; address seasonal hunger, especially of farm workers; and pass legislation to reduce food wastage. A recent Daily Maverick article revealed that 155 children have died of malnutrition in public health facilities since January, according to official statistics provided by the minister of health. An unknown number — probably much higher — have died of hunger outside hospitals and clinics. This is not ' normal '. It is unnecessary and unacceptable, as World Hunger Day reminds us. The government, the private sector, civil society and the general public should all unite to fight the scourge of hunger and malnutrition in South Africa, until no one goes to bed hungry, let alone dies of entirely avoidable malnutrition. DM
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- General
- Eyewitness News
To address food shortage, activists call on govt to compel farm owners to share unused land with workers
CAPE TOWN - Community activists at the Food Indaba in Cape Town have called on government to compel farm owners to share unused land with workers to address food shortages in the Union Against Hunger held a mini indaba for World Hunger Day on Wednesday to support communities in asserting their right to union said that despite constitutional rights to food and nutrition, 15 million people go hungry in South on Farms activist, Colette Solomons, called for the redistribution of productive farmland, specifically to women seasonal farmers and poor communities. READ: 'We are slaves on the farms': Women farmworkers want a seat on the table "It really boggles the mind that there is such a lot of land unused, but at the same time, the workers on those farms would love to have access to land so that they can grow their own vegetables."Solomons added that there was little transformation in the commercial agriculture sector, especially in the Western Cape."If you go to Stellenbosch today, if you go to Paarl today, the land is still in the hands of white male farmers." She said the people who continued to work the land were still poor black workers.
