Stepping in to ease plight of poor
a quarter of children under five are stunted (short-for-age) from chronic malnutrition.
Stunting affects both physical and cognitive functioning and is estimated to knock off at least 1.5% of South Africa’s GDP each year.
A significant part of the problem of stunting is that babies are weaned too early from their mothers’ breasts on to relatively cheap calorie-dense, protein-poor porridges.
If we could encourage mothers to breastfeed for longer and then introduce nutrient-rich solids at six months, stunting rates could drop dramatically in South Africa. The astounding fact is that we could achieve close to zero-stunting by 2030.
A food as basic as eggs could contribute greatly towards this goal. Eggs contain high-quality protein, choline and many other micronutrients needed for physical and mental growth.
A recent randomised, controlled study from Ecuador showed a 47% reduction in the prevalence of stunting by introducing an egg a day into the diet of children aged six to nine months. While a few children may react badly to eggs, the latest science points to sensitising children earlier – rather than later – to potentially allergenic foods.
Unfortunately, eggs have become too expensive for many families who receive child care grants. According to the SA Poultry Association, the mark-up from farm gate to store is about 60 – 65%, of which some is the cost of transport and retail sales. The rest is profit. Arguably, the biggest beneficiaries of social grants over the past 20 years have been Shoprite, Boxer, Score and other food retailers. They have positioned themselves to take full advantage of the revenues that flow from the R150 billion or so transferred to grant beneficiaries each year.
They have the power to make a significant dent in the prevalence of stunting by selling a limited proportion of eggs at cost price.
This could be done through discounts on the first two dozen eggs purchased at each till transaction. Barring viral outbreaks, egg supply is highly elastic if demand grows steadily over time and per capita consumption in South Africa is still low compared to many other countries.
These are the type of bold moves we want to see from private companies in South Africa.
It comes at a time when many companies are jaded by government demands for compliance with codes of good practice and may be tempted to tune out of broader engagement for societal transformation.
That would be a tragedy, because we still need the boldness and ingenuity of private enterprise for public innovation in South Africa. David Harrison is chief executive of the DG Murray Trust