Food Dialogues 2022
Learn ways to bring about a healthier, more resilient and just food system, connect with people shaping the future of food, and discover new insights into our food culture....
22 June, 2022
A unique food and nutrition journey
Worcester was recently the location of a “learning journey” where participants gained first-hand experience of challenges in the town’s food system....
21 June, 2022
South Africa’s hunger problem is turning into a major health crisis
In South Africa just over a quarter of the population are still food insecure despite sufficient food being produced at national level, according to the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey....
02 June, 2022
Some of what we eat is slowly poisoning us
Food justice is a term that encompasses many areas — food security, food systems, food sovereignty, food literacy. But it also describes a movement and commitment towards securing everyone’s right to safe, healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food....
31 May, 2022
African Food Dialogue on food prices: ‘Child stunting doesn’t happen overnight; it’s chronic’
It costs at least R800 per month to ensure that a child eats enough nutritious meals to grow and develop adequately. Unfortunately, South Africa’s childcare grant currently only provides R480, with which caregivers also need to cover other expenses. It’s therefore not surprising that a country such...
24 May, 2022
Making real change means lifting up leadership from the ground up
It has been particularly depressing in the past weeks to read about the implications of the Ukraine war on malnutrition (among other things). It raises the question: why have we not learned from past experience to create greater nutrition resilience? A naïve question of course,...
16 May, 2022
Understanding Worcester’s food system through learning journeys
The Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) and the Southern Africa Food Lab have joined forces with the Centre of Excellence in Food Security to help disseminate the findings of a place-based research project led by professors Julian May and Bruno Losch. The team...
16 May, 2022
Thirty farmers in Inchanga aim to supply vegetables locally
The average household food basket in South Africa increases by R354.22 or 8.9% (February 2022 statistic) and food prices continue to rise. The food poverty line is now R624.00 per month and the child support grant is R460.00 per month. Every year the poverty indices...
16 May, 2022
“The major problem of smallholder agriculture is shrinking farm sizes and the narrow economic margins”
The shrinking of farm sizes that prevents smallholder farmers to earn a living income is a major stumbling block in the future of farming in Africa. This is according to Ken Giller, Professor of Plant Production Systems at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, at an...
03 May, 2022
Some of what we eat is slowly poisoning us
Food justice is a term that encompasses many areas — food security, food systems, food sovereignty, food literacy. But it also describes a movement and commitment towards securing everyone’s right to safe, healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food....
22 April, 2022
A look at how these 30 farmers are trying to feed their communities
The Woza Nami (‘come with me’) project focuses on strengthening healthy food production and nutrition awareness through the scaling of vegetable farming in informal settlements based on agroecological practice....
07 April, 2022
Food system thinking
WWF South Africa and the Food Lab have partnered up to create a step-by-step guide to equip practitioners to navigate the food system within their cities. ...
02 February, 2022
Contribution of informal farming sector should not be underestimated, says BFAP expert
South Africa’s informal farming sector is contributing far more to the economy and ultimately also food security than is officially being recognised. More should be done to develop this sector, and to intensify farming endeavours. On the commercial side, policy issues and infrastructure problems, such...
09 December, 2021
We need a ‘Food First’ approach to basic municipal services and not use them as a source of local government revenue
By Tracy Ledger In the present local government model, municipal services are seen primarily as a source of revenue rather than a tool for socioeconomic development. This guarantees that poor households will remain so, that quality of life will remain low, that the struggle to feed...
27 October, 2021
UN Food Systems Summit: Less talk, more action is needed to secure a healthy future for our children
By Duduzile Mkhize We cannot build a nation on a weak foundation; adequate nutrition is the first essential building block for good health, brain development and economic prosperity, and the future of our country depends on it. Today as our leaders participate in the UN Food Systems...
27 October, 2021
Child-centric approach needed to achieve equitable food system
To secure the future and improve the present, our thinking, planning and organising should be shifted to a point where SA’s normal is a food system that revolves around the needs of our children. ...
21 October, 2021
“Food translates to love for me”
By Trusha Lakey Please view the video: [video width="480" height="480" mp4="https://www.southernafricafoodlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/VIDEO-2021-09-08-13-29-46.mp4"][/video] ...
10 September, 2021
eThekwini Municipality, SA Food Lab partnership aims to strengthen local food networks impacted by Covid-19
https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/ethekwini-municipality-sa-food-lab-partnership-aims-to-strengthen-local-food-networks-impacted-by-covid-19-fd7e1b10-20b6-4592-9f0c-b51f70b804e9...
06 September, 2021
Need to remember the past when trying to solve land matters, food security issues
“Legacies of enslavement and cattle theft are forgotten in our memories of land dispossession. Yet, they created conditions for the seizure of the land. They amplified the impact of land dispossession. If the land story is to be told, the legacies of enslavement and cattle...
06 September, 2021
Get a sneak peek into the Local Voices series of interviews
https://youtu.be/e7JZKZqa8ys...
03 September, 2021