Date: November 2025
Source: FairPlay Movement
South Africa’s critical need for economic growth and job creation in order to reduce food insecurity has been highlighted by FairPlay.
In an article in Business Report, FairPlay founder Francois Baird said South Africa’s food security was getting worse, because millions of poor people could not afford food that was available. The government spent billions to try to stop hunger levels rising, but without success.
“It is a losing battle, because the government strategy is flawed. Instead of policies that would reduce the number of poor people, it is throwing huge resources at efforts to make an increasing number of poor people less hungry.
“The result is that food security surveys regularly show that the number of hungry people is rising, and every quarterly jobs report shows that, even when percentages improve slightly, the actual number of unemployed people is going up,” Baird said.
“South Africa will never feed its hungry millions with government subsidies and handouts. The solution lies in the private sector, which the government must support through policies that make growth and investment easier, job creation easier and farming and food production easier.”
Baird noted a recent speech in which President Cyril Ramaphosa had said that 15 million to 16 million South Africans had inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. He had listed government efforts to reduce hunger and improve food security, including school feeding schemes, community nutritional programmes and grants that freed up money in households to buy food.
Ramaphosa had boasted that, in South Africa, the social wage accounts for approximately 60% of spending by government before interest payments.
“These worthy activities are not a measure of success – they are proof of failure. The government is devoting most of its spending in a never-ending battle to alleviate poverty and hunger.
“Economists have told the government repeatedly that the only answer to poverty and unemployment is economic growth, which creates jobs. We need growth of 4% and 5% a year, yet World Bank statistics show that since 2022, annual GDP growth has been below 1%. The forecast for 2026 is 1.1%.”
Economic growth should be the target of every government minister, every department and every official, with an initial target of 4% and with realistic policies to achieve it.
“This means policies that encourage investment, remove barriers to employment and make it easier for entrepreneurs to establish small-scale businesses and create jobs. Economists seem concerned that, at the moment, policy is having the opposite effect.
“Secondly, it should prioritise the production of plentiful and affordable food so that the rising number of people with jobs can provide their families with a nutritious diet.”
Keeping farming costs down, including electricity and transport costs, would help keep food prices down. The government should pay special attention to costs affecting the industries that play the biggest part in feeding the nation. These include grain and poultry.
“Chicken is an enormous component of the South African diet, and it is vital for low-income households. Chicken comprises 66% of the meat eaten annually – the chicken industry produces nearly twice as much meat as the beef industry, and four times the meat produced by pig farmers.
“A quick win in reducing food prices, especially for the poor, would be to remove value added tax (VAT) from the chicken portions most consumed by low-income households. VAT-free chicken would enable an immediate 15% reduction in the chicken portions essential for feeding poor families and for addressing child malnutrition,” Baird concluded.
Source: This article is based on reporting from the FairPlay Bulletin – 6 November 2025 edition.