Students go hungry in SA as they can’t afford food
THE South African university student population has changed over the past 20 years to reflect wider society more closely than before. It’s no surprise, therefore, that more students need support than before. The homes they come from are also struggling.
But what is perhaps surprising is that students who are receiving government financial support are still vulnerable to hunger. They are also reluctant to use the extra support that’s available, and their health and studies suffer as a result.
Student vulnerability to hunger has emerged as an alarming problem at South African higher education institutions. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme covers school fees, accommodation and a stipend, but is leaving a big gap: food.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where nearly half the students are from poor households, meal vouchers and food hampers have been offered since 2012.
Research by my colleagues and I reviewed whether this is making a difference. We found that more than half the students in the study sometimes went hungry and less than 10% of food insecure students, those from poor households, had taken advantage of the programme. This is due to lack of awareness, and negative perceptions associated with food handouts.
Food insecurity impacts on’ ability to focus, attend class and, therefore, academic outcomes. An urgent food security intervention is needed to stop this. More students need to know about the programme, and more needs to be done to keep students who are beneficiaries anonymous so they don’t feel ashamed to access it.
In addition, the government should offer financial support to campus food security interventions.
For the study, we asked 500 university students to participate using a questionnaire that included questions such as “how many meals do you eat on a normal day?” and “in the last 30 days, did you eat smaller meals due to a lack of resources?”
The study also examined what the students reported about their eating habits “in normal circumstances”.
We found a vulnerability to food insecurity was evident in 51.3% of the students. They sacrificed a meal due to a lack of resources. About 10% were highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Because they couldn’t afford it, these students either only ate one meal during the day, or starve throughout the day and eat only at night.
Food insecurity has a huge impact on health, well-being and academic performance. Nearly 65% of the students indicated that hunger affected energy levels and ability to think. About 30% were unable to attend class as a result.
Being food insecure was linked to source of funding and lack of resources. More specifically, the most food insecure students were sponsored by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and come from impoverished families.
A big challenge we found is the negative perceptions students have about poverty and food insecurity. This led to negative attitudes about food aid: 43% found it embarrassing to be food insecure. | The Conversation.