South Africa’s malnutrition crisis is a tragedy that refuses to let up.
Over the last three years, 110 children under the age of five have died from severe acute malnutrition in the Northern Cape alone, out of 1,600 hospital admissions.
And those are the documented cases.
This is not just a health crisis. It’s a systemic failure that goes beyond one province or one department.
SA’s malnutrition crisis in numbers
The Northern Cape has long been identified as one of South Africa’s country’s worst-affected regions for undernutrition. Even the DA has taken note.
As per the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 (SOFI 2024), undernourishment (in Southern Africa) was 17.4% in 2023. [1]
The ongoing challenges include stunting, wasting, child morality, and food poverty.
Severe child food poverty:
The UNICEF report titled Child Food Poverty: Addressing Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood [2] highlights that globally, one in four children under five years old (approximately 181 million) are living in severe child food poverty.
Meanwhile, 23% of South African children live in severe child food poverty. Due to this, they are at heightened risk of life-threatening malnutrition and other health complications.
Wasting:
Wasting among children under five has increased to 5%, up from 2.5% in 2016. Severe wasting affects 3.2% of children, posing immediate health risks.
For context, that’s nearly one in five children suffering from wasting.
Malnutrition impairs their growth and cognitive development, and highlights the urgent need for interventions to improve child nutrition.
Stunting:
Stunting is a condition caused by chronic malnutrition that permanently impacts growth and brain development.
Approximately 27% of children under five are affected by stunting, indicating chronic undernutrition that hampers growth and cognitive development. [3]
In 2023, 29% of children in SA were classified as stunted.
Child mortality:
In 2019, 24% of child deaths were associated with severe malnutrition. Then in 2020, the National Institute of Health reported wasting prevalence at a staggering 19%.
Now in 2024, little progress has been made.
Nationally, severe wasting has doubled. And one in 20 children are at risk of dying from hunger.
And it’s not just the Northern Cape. Malnutrition is a national crisis, not a provincial one.
Provinces like Limpopo and the Free State are battling similar challenges, exacerbated by poverty and poor interdepartmental coordination.
Why aren’t we doing more?
Experts and civil society groups have long called for urgent action. There are still glaring gaps in government intervention.
What stands in the way of addressing the crisis effectively?
- Poor data management: Incomplete and contested data on SAM delays responses and prevents targeted interventions.
- Cuts to critical programs: Soup kitchens, which are lifelines for many families, have seen funding cuts even as the cost of living continues to rise.
- Lack of coordination: Departments responsible for health, social development, and food security often work in silos, making the implementation of programs like the Integrated Food Security Plan painfully slow.
What needs to change to tackle malnutrition?
This isn’t a problem we can keep kicking down the road. Addressing malnutrition requires a comprehensive, multi-sector approach.
The focus should be on:
- Better data collection: Accurate information is essential for identifying hotspots and understanding the true scale of the crisis.
- Community programmes: Local feeding schemes and partnerships with civil society organizations can help fill immediate gaps.
- Accountability and oversight: Transparency in program implementation is critical to ensure resources actually reach those in need.
Global overview of childhood nutrition
This is an interaction dashboard courtesy of Unicef.
‘No Time To Waste’ call-to-action
In 2022, UNICEF introduced the ‘No Time to Waste Acceleration Plan‘ to combat severe malnutrition affecting nearly 8 million children across 15 countries.
This initiative successfully raised $933 million (R16.97 billion, at the time of publishing) reached 21.5 million people, and treated 5.6 million children suffering from severe wasting.
However, persistent challenges such as conflict, climate change, and economic instability have kept malnutrition levels alarmingly high.
Ias of September 2024, ‘No Time to Waste’ sheds light on the funding gaps. Nearly two million children could be without treatment in the 12 most affected countries.
The appeal also emphasises the critical need to maintain local production of essential nutrition supplies to sustain interventions and bolster community resilience against malnutrition.
More info here:
Malnutrition in South Africa: final thoughts
Malnutrition isn’t just a health issue.
It’s a reflection of inequality, broken systems, and missed opportunities. It’s time to stop treating hunger as a seasonal cause.
South Africa’s children need more than promises—they need action. Because no child should have to fight for survival in a country with the resources to do better.
Citations:
[1] FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2024. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 – Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. Rome.
[2] United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Child Food Poverty. Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood. Child Nutrition Report, 2024. UNICEF, New York, June 2024
[3] UNICEF. (2023). Country office annual report 2023: South Africa.
