Innovate as SA malnutrition crisis looms

IN THE past week, South Africa has seen an exponential growth in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Whether this indicates that we are reaching “the peak” remains to be seen, but what is clear is that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

What is also clear is that with many households losing their sources of income as a result of the pandemic and its associated lockdown, our country is at the cusp of a malnutrition crisis.

Pre-pandemic, 27% of children in SA suffered from stunted growth and development from chronic malnutrition. Malnutrition contributed, as an underlying factor, in at least two-thirds of child deaths in South Africa,a quarter of pregnant women reported going hungry, and 25% of households lived below the food poverty line.

For the poorest 40% of the population, there is no nutritional reserve, and this economic shock will push many over the line into acute malnutrition.

Worsening nutrition will increase the number of low birth weight babies, and increase susceptibility to infections, firstly to Covid-19 and then to childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea and measles. This could result in secondary epidemics, especially if the health services are already overwhelmed by Covid-19.

Now with food prices up by 30% and the economy in a downward spin, it’s become more important than ever to think innovatively and to be efficient in our food relief responses.

The government has taken the nutritional threats to the country seriously and has temporarily increased the child support grant (CSG). However, there are still many poor families who don’t receive any form of social assistance. The CSG is also not available to pregnant women.

The distribution of food parcels in response to the above has also proven itself to be fraught with difficulty. Distributing food parcels is expensive, logistically complicated and risky, both for Covid-19 transmission and corruption.

It is clear that to address the needs of the vulnerable in our society we need to think out of the box. Over the past three months, we’ve tried to do just that.

In partnership with the DG Murray Trust, local NGOs, and working with Flash and Kazang, two technology companies that provide the technology backbone for payment services in the township economy, as of July 7, 2020, we have distributed over 12 000 digital food vouchers to pregnant and new moms and other vulnerable people across all nine provinces.

These vouchers are redeemable for any goods sold in Spaza shops and general dealers, but are strongly associated with communication of the ten ‘best buys’ of affordable nutritious foods.

Vouchers sent via cellphone provide a way to provide social relief of distress without the costs and risks associated with the distribution of food parcels.

This model is simple, robust and could provide a ready channel for supporting vulnerable people not protected by existing social security nets.

With the end of Covid-19 nowhere in sight, we will have to be innovative with our solutions and digital vouchers are a ready solution that has been tested and found to work.