THE ESCALATING COST OF FOOD IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE REST OF AFRICA

The cost of food is of great concern to governments – at national, provincial and local scales – to consumers, urban planners, development practitioners and producers, not only in the south but globally. In a 2017 report, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) asserts that globally, the escalating cost of food and the increasing control of food systems by powerful conglomerates are being further exacerbated by rising economic inequality and social discontent. The report says that

Food insecurity, then, is not only a concern in regard to the cost of food, but has profound implications for political and societal stability.

In South Africa, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) notes that food prices have soared since 2015, particularly of basic foodstuffs such as fresh fruit and vegetables, and grains and cereals, adversely affecting poor households (StatsSA 2016). The Gauteng provincial government has responded to rising food insecurity in the province by expanding its food assistance to indigent households. In his 2016 State of the Province Address (SOPA), Gauteng premier David Makhura indicated that the province had assisted over 227 000 residents through food banks in its various municipalities, and another almost 200 000 through food parcels and cooked meals at drop-in centres (South African Government 2016). He further acknowledged that the food security challenges facing the province lay not only in providing assistance to consumers, but also in supporting small farmers, agro-processing, urban agriculture and community gardens. Ordinary people, farmers and activists have initiated lobby efforts such as the Food Sovereignty Campaign, which seeks to engage the state, universities and big retail capital for more socially just solutions to increasing food security challenges faced by urban residents. As Makhura suggests, food insecurity is not just about the lack of food, but about the broader economic environment which produces inequalities. Yet the response did not essentially address systemic drivers of food poverty – of which the agribusiness and big retail capital are central.