Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Hungry for knowledge, food
SA children are suffering from malnutrition in a food-secure nation, and here’s why
A CHILD wakes up hungry in South Africa; she is unable to learn. Other children are stunted and die from malnutrition.
Farmers dump tons of good food. Government and industry align to legislate against the sharing of seeds. The UN proclaims a Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030.
This is the anomalous, painful story of the food system. It has many sides.
South Africa is considered a food-secure nation. Yet malnutrition is a major underlying cause of death in 64% of all child deaths. One in five children is stunted, deficient in the vitamins and minerals vital to good health and optimal development. These children are not able to learn. At the same time, South Africa wastes 10 million tons of food annually.
The pain and hunger pangs felt by a hungry child who is unable to learn are part of this story. This pierces the soul, but will not be resolved by itself.
In this story, the child comes to learn that the longer she is deprived of food, the greater the delays in learning impact her learning potential and chances of success. The little food she has is used for energy to keep the heart, lungs and other essential bodily functions going. Only after that is there energy for socialising and learning.
Hunger, malnutrition and undernutrition are silent symptoms of gross inequality, poverty and a lack of a social ethic of care. Exacerbated by climate change, lack of land ownership and lack of women’s empowerment, the story looks grim.
History reveals a long legacy of land dispossession and stigmatisation of agriculture. Today only 2% of households grow most of their own food. Most small-scale producers in rural areas are unable to feed their families because of inadequate access to water, equipment and extension services. Access to land and water do not equate to adequate production; adequate infrastructure and support are needed as well.
Political-industrial alliances distort the story further. New seed legislation fails to protect and promote smallholder farmers’ interests, small-scale seed enterprises, social justice and ecological integrity. Seed company interests dominate. Now farmers may not even share popular open-pollinated varieties of seeds outside of their private spaces. Farmer-managed seed systems are undermined, indigenous knowledge is denigrated, and traditional practices of recycling, exchanging and selling farm-saved seeds are destroyed. With this, important seed diversity practices, much-needed in the face of climate change, are also destroyed.
As this unfolds, communities report increasing occurrences of extreme weather such as floods or droughts, as well as changes in rainfall patterns. Their livestock suffer from inadequate fodder, while planting seasons shift and become uncertain, making food production ever-more precarious. Their children go to school hungry.
Hidden in the story is the fact that many of the government policies that were meant to address food security, hunger and malnutrition have not as yet been well implemented. They are often unco-ordinated, with little accountability shown to the people who are actually facing hunger.
Since 2003, the government has added vitamins and minerals to wheat flour, maize flour and retail sugar to help address malnutrition. School-feeding schemes are supported by the Department of Basic Education. Organisations are developing approaches to address food waste, while farmers are fighting for food and seed sovereignty in social movements. But these actions need to be stepped up and shared more widely.
Better-nourished children can lead more productive lives. They can do better in school, make better choices, learn more about life. Overall, they are in a better position to contribute to a cohesive society. For this we need diversified, community-based food production systems that are not held ransom to political-industrial coalitions, historical neglect, policy inefficacy or disjointed thinking.
There is a saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. Similarly, a whole society is needed to ensure that our children don’t die from malnutrition, go hungry and fail to learn.
Zero hunger and the right to quality education will not appear in a new story until food waste is halted, children are fed, and seeds are fully in the hands of farmers.