It is heartbreaking that in 2025, at least one in ten South African children still suffers from hunger, yet the nation barely talks about it.That silence ends today.The Shoprite Group has just released the 2025 South African Food Security Index, the country’s only independent, yearly measure of hunger.
The score has climbed to 56.5 (up from 44.9 in 2023), yet it remains far below the 65.8 recorded in 2019 when fewer children went hungry.This small rise is a spark of hope, proof that progress is possible when we act together.Price remains the biggest barrier. Shoprite kept food inflation at just 2.3% this year, made over 13 300 products cheaper, and sold 27.7 million loaves of R5 bread, enough to stretch almost from Cape Town to London. Through Xtra Savings, customers have saved R55 billion in real cash since 2019.Most South Africans now live within 5 km of a Shoprite store, turning distance from fresh food into history.Yet almost one in four citizens still lacks a diverse diet.
That is why Shoprite has backed 287 community food gardens since 2015, trained 3 593 growers, and produced 106 595 kg of vegetables last year alone. Their 33 Mobile Soup Kitchens served 8.9 million warm meals, and R258 million in surplus food reached those who needed it most.Hunger is complex, driven by jobs, policy, and global prices, but no single player can fix it alone. Government, business, and communities must join hands: stronger school feeding schemes, food vouchers for pregnant mothers, more vegetable gardens, and real economic growth.Today’s Index proves one thing clearly: when we choose to act, fewer children cry themselves to sleep on empty stomachs.Change is happening. Let us make it faster.
This year, we look beyond calories and confront the truth: South Africa suffers a double burden of malnutrition — underfed children and overfed adults living under the same roof.A healthy diet is not a luxury. It is the foundation of growth, immunity, and lifelong health. Yet, according to UNICEF’s 2024 Child Food Poverty Report, 23% of South African children live in severe food poverty — one of the highest rates globally. Our nation is among just 20 countries that carry 65% of the world’s hungry children.The result? Stunting — too short for their age, brains and bodies robbed of potential before they turn five.But the crisis has two faces.In the same household, a child may go to bed hungry while a parent battles diabetes or heart disease from cheap, ultra-processed foods. One in four South Africans lacks dietary diversity — missing the vitamins and minerals needed to thrive.This year, the South African Food Security Index will go deeper. We will track not just food access, but what people actually eat — across income groups, provinces, and communities.Because true food security is not just having something on the plate.
It is having the right things — vegetables, proteins, whole grains — within reach of every child, every family, every day.
It is having the right things — vegetables, proteins, whole grains — within reach of every child, every family, every day.
