We All Need to Eat But Cost of Living Hits Poor Hardest

Food insecurity in South Africa remains a major health problem and poorer households are disproportionately affected, writes Siphiwe Dlamini for The Conversation. Living in a food insecure household may be forcing poor South Africans to use a variety of coping strategies that include eating less, borrowing or using credit, and even begging for food on the streets.

Food price inflation attracts considerable attention because we must all eat, and periods of high food inflation affect poor households the most. This is because they spend a higher percentage of their income on food. In Kenya in recent weeks, protesters took to the streets, against - among others, rising food prices.

As the world examines the environment, the climate crisis in Africa can have a variety of effects on food, land, and water systems, diminishing their productivity and raising food poverty while also having the potential to spark conflict, AllAfrica reports.