Leading academics, activists, and civil society organisations have joined forces to confront South Africa’s growing hunger crisis by launching the Union Against Hunger (UAH). The newly established movement aims to push for urgent policy action as millions of South Africans face food insecurity. Currently, nine million children go hungry daily, and one in four citizens struggles with extreme food shortages.
Speaking on VOC Breakfast on Wednesday, Professor Stephen Devereux, a member of UAH’s secretariat, emphasised the need for stronger policies. “Many of my colleagues work in food security, hunger, and nutrition, and civil society has been saying for a long time that there isn’t enough focus on hunger and malnutrition in South Africa,” he said. “When the G20 presidency came to South Africa in December, we saw this as an opportunity to push the government to take this crisis more seriously.”
Devereux explained that academics and civil society groups decided to act. “We thought, let’s do something let’s build a movement, a coalition, and use this G20 year to put pressure on the government. That’s exactly what we’re doing today with the launch of the Union Against Hunger.”
With food insecurity worsening, UAH aims to amplify public discourse and advocate for meaningful policy interventions to combat hunger and malnutrition in South Africa.
Listen to the full audio below:
VOC News
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