The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated another devastating crisis: hunger. Heroic efforts are required from a range of actors to combat this scourge, writes Jane Battersby.
The theme of World Food Day 2020, on 16 October is Food Heroes. It is clear that this year needs food heroes more than ever before. The Covid-19 crisis has had a devastating effect on food security and food systems globally and within South Africa. The first wave of the NIDS CRAM survey found that 47% of respondents had run out of money to buy food in April. While this proportion reduced to 37% in June when the second wave of data were collected, the extent of the food crisis in South Africa remains shocking and devastating for basic health and wellbeing
However, we know South Africa experienced significant food and nutrition insecurity even before Covid-19 hit. Around 60% of households in Cape Town were unable to afford a nutritionally adequate diet ahead of the Covid crisis. The country’s rates of child stunting are unacceptably high, at 27%, indicating widespread, chronic malnutrition. The reasons for food and nutrition insecurity are complex and systemic and will require a range of Food Heroes to fight this challenge.
Since 2008 the food research at the African Centre for Cities has focussed on food and nutrition security and how this connects to food systems, urban systems and now health systems through a number of large, multi-partner projects, including AFSUN, CUP, Hungry Cities Partnership, Nourishing Spaces and our latest project, the Nourished Child. This work has revealed food heroes in unexpected places and opportunities for new heroes to step up.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, the Nourished Child project has had to adapt its research methodologies to continue research without risking the health of researchers or participants. As part of this, we commissioned photographer, Samantha Reinders, to take photos in one of our field sites to use within our now remote research. These photos provide snapshots of the kind of food heroes that need celebrating and supporting not just on World Food Day but every day.