A recent decrease in the price of value-brand sugar has highlighted the ongoing food affordability crisis in South Africa. The Maverick Citizen food basket, which tracks the prices of 14 basic food items, decreased by R17 from August to September, from R405.86 to R388.86. This decrease was largely driven by a R20 reduction in the price of white sugar, from R69.99 to R49.99. The decrease in sugar price is attributed to packaging and marketing costs.
The Maverick Citizen food basket is used to track the affordability of basic food items for South Africa's most vulnerable citizens. The basket consists of 14 basic food items that can be bought with the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. Despite the decrease in the food basket, it remains R18.86 more expensive than the SRD grant. This highlights the challenges faced by low-income households in accessing affordable food.
Industry experts have attributed the R20 difference in sugar prices to pack-size economics, value-brand cost models, and brand equity and marketing. According to senior agricultural economist at FNB Commercial, Paul Makube, branded premiums of Huletts and Selati are roughly 15-35% over value and house brands like Sugarfields. The packaging, handling, and shelf space required for smaller packs of sugar contribute to the higher cost.
The food affordability crisis in South Africa has sparked calls for the government to rethink its grants and nutrition policy. Civil society organizations are urging the government to explore increasing social grants, including the SRD grant, to address maternal and child nutrition support. The Union Against Hunger and the Just Transition in the Food System Network have convened with around 70 civil society organizations to discuss the draft National Food and Nutrition Security Plan 2025-2033.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group's household affordability index for September reports that the average cost of the Household Food Basket for a family of seven is R5,488.06. To feed a family of seven a basic nutritious diet for the month of September would cost R6,655.29. The report also notes that to feed a child a nutritious diet would cost an average of R970.27, which is about 40% above the R580 Child Support Grant.
The government is developing a new National Food and Nutrition Security Plan 2025-2033 to ensure that all South Africans have access to safe, nutritious, and healthy food. Provincial and district consultations on the plan are taking place nationwide from September. The plan aims to address the country's food affordability crisis and ensure that all citizens have access to nutritious food.
The Union Against Hunger has identified six main priorities for the new National Food and Nutrition Security Plan, including food affordability, land reform, and maternal and child nutrition support. The organization is calling for the reassessment of social grants against national poverty lines and people's realities of what it costs to afford a food basket. The organization believes that the value of social grants needs to be adjusted to address nutrition and food affordability.
Key points
- The Maverick Citizen food basket decreased by R17 in September but remains R18.86 more expensive than the Social Relief of Distress grant.
- The R20 difference in sugar prices is attributed to packaging and marketing costs.
- Civil society organizations are urging the government to rethink its grants and nutrition policy to address the country's food affordability crisis.
