Dr Scott Drimie is Director of the Southern Africa Food Lab. Though touted in social media as something of a women’s lib issue; the importance of support for breastfeeding mothers goes far beyond that. At under 8%, South Africa has the lowest rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)...
Two years ago, I found out through a United Nations Development Programme report that approximately 60 % of the world’s available arable land is in Africa. Naturally, this made me wonder why Africa is not the bread basket of the world, especially given the global...
In a country where malnutrition and inequality are rife, retailers must embrace the challenge to sell the same products at prices that are more broadly affordable if their businesses are to succeed into the future. In fact, addressing poverty – which affects more than a...
As the organics sector steadily grows in South Africa, there is support for smallholder farmers’ inclusion. The recently released SAOSO Organic Standards for Production and Processing include Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) as an alternative to third party certification, enabling market access for smallholder farmers. PGS...
The Southern Africa Food Lab’s Workshop on Shifting the Food System in November was an exploration of a diverse group’s perceptions of the South African food system at which insights and expertise were shared, coalescing around areas of interest and passion, as potential catalysts and...
A four-day Transformation Lab (T-Lab) recently hosted by the CST and the Southern African Food Lab brought together a group of nearly 40 academics, farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs and social activists to imagine ways of shifting a food system that in many ways appears entangled in...
New research on the rising cost of food gives the issue an alarmingly visceral dimension, write Ralph Hamman, Scott Drimie and Eckhard Smuts....
In a significant moment last Saturday, members of the Western Cape farming community and broader agricultural industry joined together to endorse the South African Organic Sector Organisation’s (SAOSO) proposed Organic Standards....
In a nation fraught with food insecurity, smallholder farmers have an important role to play; we provide food for the local communities and we provide employment, reducing rural poverty....
The topic of an increased minimum wage has sparked fierce debate. The issue is by no means simple. ...
“Cross-sectoral collaboration is essential if we are to improve food security in the country,” notes Dr Scott Drimie, Director of the Southern Africa Food Lab. “There are no quick fixes to the issues we face, but by bringing together the very different, and sometimes even...
The current drought has brought the issue of food security in South Africa to the fore. In recent months, the CPI food inflation rate was 12,3% while the monthly cost of a nutritionally balanced “food basket” has catapulted by a shocking 25%. Most affected by...
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/opinion/2016/10/16/Eating-for-the-nation-Juju-shows-the-way As we mark World Food Day on 16 October, Tatjana von Bormann appeals to South Africa’s political leaders to show the way forward by adapting their diet for their own sake and the sake of the planet. A couple of years ago it came to public...
- Carolyn Cramer “Every day African children attend schools across our nation having eaten nothing. Their educators expect them to perform to a specific level, but they leave knowing little more than when they arrived,” says Norah Mlondobozi. “You cannot teach a hungry child. Until we...
You may have spotted the first Food (R)evolutions Exhibition hosted by the Sustainability Institute at Spier Wine Estate. Partnering with the Sustainability Institute, we will host another two of these exhibitions in the upcoming months. From 5 to 16 May this exhibition can be seen on...
If you're a South African citizen, you may have spotted Southern Africa Food Lab articles about our country's food systems in one of your local newspapers in the last few months. We've also contributed to some online publications.If you spotted one of the articles mentioning...
The food system is complex, but it’s too important to ignore. In order to secure the system and grant South Africans their consitutional right to adequate food, we need to have a more coherent conversation....