On 16 March 2022, the Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Development Studies at the University of Pretoria, FSNet-Africa, and the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, hosted a #FoodTalks seminar on a new publication, School Food, Equity and Social Justice with a focus on the South African perspective shared in one of the chapters. Dr Marc Wegerif, Thabang Msimango and Dr Nokuthula Vilakazi, authors of Chapter 10: School food and the promotion of a more just and equitable food system in South Africa, joined one of the editors of the book, Dr Dorte Ruge, to discuss the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in South Africa.

The NSNP currently feeds more than 9 million children every school day, many of whom come from poorer communities. The programme provides children with at least one nutritious meal daily, with the intention of sustaining learners and improving their ability to learn. The meals usually consist of protein, a fruit or vegetable (normaly cooked) and starch. Additionally, some schools provide learners with the opportunity to take leftover food home.

School feeding programmes need to provide nutritious and safe foods in an attempt to overcome food inequities. Dr Wegerif argues that feeding children in poorer communities with unsafe or substandard food could defeat the purpose of the program and further exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition. As Ms Msimango points out, ensuring food safety at schools has always been a challenge, especially because contamination can come from various sources. She argues that food handlers, who are usually volunteers from the community, play a major role in ensuring that the food prepared for learners is safe for consumption. The best way to do this is to practice good hygiene which includes washing fruits and vegetables, washing hands, wearing hairnets and checking expiration dates on food products. Additionally, it is important for the government and private sector to ensure schools have the necessary infrastructure to safely store and prepare food.

While the main purpose of the NSNP is to provide nutritious meals to learners, Dr Wegerif argues that the programme also has the potential to uplift the communities surrounding the schools and transform the food and agricultural sector. Ownership in the current agricultural system is highly concentrated and excludes a large portion of farmers and potential farmers, specifically black small-scale farmers. Additionally, South Africa has high levels of inequality and high rates of unemployment and this is echoed in the agriculture sector. Dr Wegerif argues that one way in which this can be changed is by incorporating a home-grown school feeding model into the NSNP with a focus on developing and stimulating the growth of more small-scale and black farmers. At the moment, the NSNP does not have specific targets for transforming the agricultural sector. If home-grown school feeding was to be incorporated into the NSNP and combined with agricultural support targeting support small-scale and black farmers, it could enhance growth and transformation in the food and agricultural sector.

The panellists agreed that the NSNP has had great success, and this should be celebrated, but it also has underutilized potential to drive even more change. The government, together with other relevant stakeholders need to consider the power that the NSNP has to have a greater impact on society and look at models used in other countries for inspiration. School Food, Equity and Social Justice would be a great place to start because it shares perspectives from school feeding programmes that have been implemented across the world and some of the successes and failures of these programmes. The NSNP has grown and developed a lot over the last 20 years and the hope is that it will continue to do so while expanding its impact on the South African society at large.

“There is value in the school nutrition program, but we need more hands on deck, we need to improve on it, because we have seen that it works. But we can still do better, there is a lot to learn, with the book we can engage with other countries to see where or how we can improve.” – Dr Nokuthula Vilakazi.

You can watch the full seminar here.