South Africa is facing a hunger crisis. 

This is according to recent submissions by advocacy groups to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)’s Inquiry into the country’s food system. 

The first phase of the inquiry was held in March this year, and heard evidence from civil society organisations and government institutions. The second phase in July turned the focus to the private sector across the food chain, including farmers, food manufacturers and retailers.

Submissions by the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) included findings that more than a thousand children died last year because of preventable acute malnutrition, and an estimated 14 million people in the country go hungry. 

Over the coming weeks, Health-e News will share the stories of people behind these statistics in an eight-part series, Hungry For Change, looking at the difficult choices families make when there is not enough money for food.

Our community journalists will take readers into the homes of vulnerable communities across South Africa, and report on the sacrifices people make to keep food on the table.

Our stories will look at how hunger affects young children and older people, and how poor access to basic services, unemployment and rising food costs shape what families can eat.

Some stories will also focus on communities finding their own ways to cope, from growing their own food to pooling money through food stokvels.

Throughout the series, a photo essay called “What’s on your plate?” will document meals eaten by households featured in our stories, and look at what those meals cost, how many people they feed and what they provide nutritionally.

The aim is simple: to show our readers what hunger looks like beyond the statistics, and the desperate measures people go to to feed their families.

Health-e News will add stories from the Hungry For Change series below as they are published.