South Africa is facing a “food crisis”, and the South Africa Food Sovereignty Campaign (SASFC) has called on government to ensure that food parcels are distributed to all communities to feed the poor.
“While we commend the government’s efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown has not been accompanied with adequate socio-economic mitigation measures,” the SASFC said in a statement.
The organisation said the government’s response to food needs had been inadequate and the Solidarity Fund has not been able to effectively ensure food supply, through food parcels.
It called for politicians to desist from handing out food parcels, and for the Solidarity Fund to work closely with local government to identify community organisations that can facilitate food distribution in grassroots communities.
“The food crisis is going to persist as long as we have the Covid-19 pandemic. The Solidarity Fund is far from blunting the edge of desperation and hunger. Politicians handing out food parcels is not helping the situation and it politicises the crisis,” SASFC said.
-Herald