Course:VANT149/2022/Capstone/Arts/GroupD1

Title of Project

South Africa’s deteriorating hunger crisis during COVID-19

To what extent does COVID-19 worsen the economy and intensify hunger in South Africa?

Hongyang Fang, Jiayi Jiao, Chenyu Zhang

Our project is based on the UN's 17 sustainability goals of zero hunger that aim to ensure global food security and improve nutrition while advancing sustainable agriculture. Hunger issues continue to be prevalent and persistent, and it is one of the primary contributors to poverty and mortality. According to a statistic from the United Nations, approximately 270 million people face worsening food insecurity and hunger. South Africa is one of the nations that have experienced significant hunger issues in all areas. Even worse, the highly transmissible disease COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem by impacting the economy and employment rates of the nation. Since COVID-19, the South African economy has been in a deep recession, and unemployment rates have risen dramatically. In addition, food and other necessities are becoming more expensive, reducing food affordability and aggravating hunger. Our project analyses the role of COVID-19 in deteriorating the South African economy and aggravating the hunger problem from a holistic standpoint. Qualitative research methods such as interviews and thematic analysis of collected data will be utilised to find solutions for South Africa's hunger problem. Interviews provide the most clarity and comprehension for our project and first-hand perspectives on hunger issues, which makes our method advantageous for addressing the problem.

Due to the changing nature of COVID-19 at this time, where the virus has dramatically impacted South Africa's present market and economy compared to two years ago, existing studies on measures to alleviate hunger difficulties in the early phases of COVID-19 may be outdated and inapplicable. Furthermore, few studies have adequately examined South Africa's economic structure from a holistic perspective, one of the significant contributors to hunger. Experts provide counsel from various perspectives while the economic and hunger crisis is an escalating problem with dire consequences, as evidenced by the research and proposed solutions. Related policies must be systematically analysed structurally, and the economy's structure should be altered to obtain more comprehensive and beneficial long-term initiatives to improve South Africa's economy. Therefore, to ensure the goal fo zero hunger, we feel that a new and comprehensive look at South Africa's hunger issues is both urgent and essential. Such an investigation would yield better results, bring more clarity to resolving South Africa's hunger problems, and address the current knowledge gap.

According to the United Nations website, an estimated 795 million people worldwide were chronically undernourished in 2014, often as a result of environmental degradation, drought and loss of biodiversity. More than 90 million children under the age of five are stunted and underweight. A quarter of Africa's population still goes hungry. One of Sustainable Development Goal is to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 and ensure adequate and nutritious food for all, especially children and vulnerable groups.