Food roll-out 'not enough'

2003-03-11 14:06

Cape Town - The man responsible for implementing the roll-out of a food and nutrition programme for South Africa admitted on Tuesday that the government had not done enough to ensure it's constitutional obligations of providing food for all.

"The state is weak in this regard...but we are doing as much as we can," deputy director-general Masiphula Mbongwa told MPs attending public hearings of the portfolio committee on agriculture.

Mbongwa was addressing MPs and members of the public on the government's draft Integrated Food and Nutrition Programme for the country.

"There is still some little bit of work to do, particularly with regard to the passing of legislation...at the moment we have a draft, but this must still be submitted to cabinet," he said.

The Constitution, in referring to the right to access food and water, says that there was also an obligation on the part of the state to take "reasonable legislative and other measures" to ensure the realisation of these rights.

Mbongwa said the government's food and nutrition programme identified more than 12 million of the neediest people that had to be helped with food security.

"The most vulnerable occur in the former homelands, commercial farms, informal settlements and inner cities," he said.

The objectives of the programme were to improve food production and trading; increase community income and job creation; improve household nutrition and food safety; improve safety nets and food emergency management systems; and improve information and communication systems.

Part of government's approach would be to tackle the worst problems identified, build capacity and "provide basic food baskets to households".

"Our target is to reduce the number of the hungry and malnourished by half by the year 2015. We will target 13 rural development nodes, eight urban renewal nodes as well as poverty pockets outside these nodes. Government will also prioritise households spending less than R300 per month on food."

The state would also look at strategic food resources, draw up food and nutrition insecurity maps and establish more school and community vegetable gardens.

The director of the non-governmental organisation Abalimi Bezekhaya, which represents about 3 000 organic micro-farmers, appealed to the committee to support and encourage vegetable gardens in every home at risk on a "massive scale".

"These organic foods can make a huge difference to children growing up...they are cheap and nutritious," said director Robert Small.

- SAPA