Food insecurity:
Households
typically move
through stages:
worrying about
running out of
food; cutting
portions or
compromising
diet quality;
skipping meals;
and ultimately
going a whole
day without
eating. Photo:
File
South Africa is facing a deepening hunger crisis, with millions of households skipping meals, compromising nutrition and resorting to harmful coping strategies because of rising food prices, unemployment and inequality.
Between 2019 and 2023, the country’s severe hunger rate rose from 6.4% to 8%, leaving roughly one million more people going days without food, according to FoodForward SA’s flagship State of Household Food Insecurity in South Africa Report 2026, which reveals the scale, persistence and severity of the crisis.
Food assistance often serves as the last thin buffer in a system where food insecurity has become chronic and structural.
The report is the product of an 18-month research partnership between FoodForward SA and the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (Saldru) at the University of Cape Town.
Using internationally recognised tools — including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) — the study translates early warning signs into robust, policy-relevant evidence of a crisis that is worsening, not easing.
Based on interviews with the heads of 796 households receiving food through FoodForward SA’s national network of beneficiary organisations, the findings reveal that hunger remains widespread, deeply entrenched and unrelenting — even among families already accessing food support.
According to the report, while progress had been made in the early 2000s, recent years have seen reversals due to conflict, climate change, economic downturns and global health crises. Rising food prices and supply chain disruptions have further undermined access for vulnerable populations.
National trends show rapid deterioration. Statistics South Africa data indicates food-insecure people rose from 14.25 million in 2019 to 17.8 million in 2023, while severe food insecurity surged from 5.2 million to 8 million. While social grants offer some protection, the report finds they are insufficient to offset rapid increases in food costs and growing household needs.
One of the most striking findings is the depth of deprivation: about 70% of surveyed households experience moderate to severe food insecurity, while roughly one in four go an entire day without food. These patterns appear consistently across both 12-month and 30-day reference periods, underscoring that food insecurity is structural rather than episodic.
“This study shows, with painful clarity, that the food insecurity many South Africans live with is not occasional — it is a daily reality, even for families already receiving food support,” said Andy Du Plessis, the managing director of FoodForward SA. “Behind every percentage is a household juggling impossible choices between food, transport, medication and debt.”
He locates household hunger within a convergence of systemic crises that threaten the foundations of the country’s food systems and the well-being of its people.
“Climate disruptions, biodiversity loss, land and water degradation, conflict, persistent inequalities and economic shocks are increasingly undermining our collective ability to ensure food security and nutrition for all,” he said.
Food insecurity is not experienced uniformly. Adults often skip meals so children can eat, using self-sacrifice as a protective buffer. Yet high rates of child hunger show that these strategies are often insufficient.
Child exposure to hunger is substantial: most children live in moderately food-insecure households and roughly one-quarter to one-third face severe conditions, revealing limits to adult buffering.
The research reveals that household coping behaviour escalates from portion cuts and meal stretching to meal skipping, cheap-staple substitution, high-cost debt, asset sales and foregoing medication, with peaks around grant-cycle troughs and seasonal job gaps.
And, while food donations buffer acute hunger, they are “constrained by timing, quantity and transport costs”.
Du Plessis noted that despite remarkable global advances in food production, vast quantities of edible surplus food are still discarded every day, while countless children go without a meal – sometimes for days. “The devastating irony is that the food needed to save lives exists, yet remains out of reach for those who need it most.”
The report locates household hunger within a national paradox: persistent hunger in a food-secure country. While South Africa produces sufficient food at a national level, access and affordability remain out of reach for millions.
Household food insecurity also carries emotional and psychological dimensions. The research reveals that a majority of households — 77.8% — talk to children about food inadequacy, while just over half discuss food needs openly within the family. This suggests “that children are directly engaged in the reality of scarcity”.
“These findings indicate that food insecurity is not only a material challenge but also an emotional and relational one, shaping household dialogue and children’s awareness of hardship,” the report noted.
“The implication is that children in these households are not shielded from food-related stress but are instead drawn into coping strategies, which may have psycho-social as well as nutritional consequences.”
Food insecurity varies sharply by gender, household composition, employment status and geography. Female-headed households face significantly higher levels, with one in 10 classified as severely food insecure — double the rate of male-headed homes.
The report flags youth-headed households, households with children and those reliant on unstable employment as particularly vulnerable.
While the Western Cape records comparatively lower levels of severe deprivation, provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape experience acute and pervasive food insecurity.
KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga exhibit persistently high levels of moderate food insecurity, indicating that even where extreme deprivation is less prevalent, food access remains fragile for many households.
The Eastern Cape stands out as an epicentre, where more than 12% of households face severe food insecurity — roughly three times the rate recorded in the Western Cape.
According to the report, urban households often report greater severity than rural ones, reflecting the pressures of cash-based food systems, higher living costs and limited access to alternative food sources.
Racial inequality, meanwhile, remains stark: nearly one in 10 black African households are severely food insecure, compared to less than 1% of white households.
Food insecurity exists on a continuum, rather than as a single condition. Households typically move through stages: worrying about running out of food, cutting portions or compromising diet quality, skipping meals and ultimately going a whole day without eating.
Early warning signs — like adults skipping meals so children can eat — signal escalating risk. Employment shocks, rising food prices, household size and lack of employment are the strongest predictors of severe food insecurity.
Even among households classified as food insecure, a significant number experience severe episodes of deprivation, including entire days with no food. These experiences often remain hidden from public view but the data shows they are both real and rising sharply.
Employment shocks and rising food prices emerge as the strongest predictors of transitions into severe food insecurity. Larger households and those without any employed members are especially vulnerable, “reflecting the interaction between demographic pressure and labour market exclusion”.
Urbanisation, inequality and spatial disparities further compound risk, the report said. While some provinces experience acute severe hunger, others show persistently high levels of moderate food insecurity, indicating fragile access even where extreme deprivation is less visible.
The report calls for evidence-based, targeted interventions: child-focused nutrition programmes, community kitchens serving entire households, time-sensitive food or voucher support for the most vulnerable and protective safety nets preventing food-related debt and the erosion of well-being.
“If we are serious about protecting children and stabilising households, we must move beyond short-term relief to coordinated, evidence-based responses,” Du Plessis said.
“This report gives us a clear baseline for the kind of action South Africa urgently needs.”
Professor Reza Daniels, the director of Saldru, emphasised that the research captures lived realities. “The research reveals that household food insecurity in South Africa is not only widespread but deeply layered.
“Millions of families are forced into impossible choices — from shrinking portions and skipping meals to going without food for entire days. As financial pressure intensifies, coping strategies escalate, households sacrifice essentials such as transport and medication, take on costly debt to buy food and experience mounting stress that erodes wellbeing and stability.”
By grounding policy and programme design in the lived experiences behind the data, “we can strengthen food systems that do more than alleviate hunger – systems that protect health, dignity and livelihoods,” Daniels added.
“The way forward is clear: evidence must guide our actions and those actions must be rooted in compassion.”