<\/p>\n
Rise Against Hunger\u2019s Brian says rising hunger in SA is a serious concern, particularly as new data shows nearly one in four children are living in severe food poverty. \u201cI think probably the most concerning thing is that hunger in general within SA is on the increase, which is a huge concern,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said government has taken some steps to respond to the crisis, but more urgent action is needed. \u201cThe government is taking some steps, and I know it’s been forefront on our president’s mind during some of his latest nation addresses. But yeah, there’s a lot to be done, and it is critical, and it’s very urgent,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said hunger and malnutrition should not be treated as the same issue. A child may receive enough food to stop hunger but still lack the nutrients needed for healthy development. \u201cFeed someone with a couple of bread rolls, and they’re no longer hungry, but they haven’t got the nutritional value out of that meal that they need,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said nutrition is especially important during the first 1 000 days of a child\u2019s life, from conception to the age of two. \u201cWe also have the statistic that one in four children are born developmentally stunted in South Africa,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Brian, developmental stunting affects a child\u2019s ability to compete with peers, complete school and access tertiary education, reinforcing poverty across generations. \u201cThe chances of them finishing high school are very slim, which means no tertiary education options. And so you end up in this perpetual cycle of poverty,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said school feeding programmes are important, but they often begin too late because most support starts from Grade 1. More attention is needed during pregnancy and early childhood.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said many unregistered early childhood development centres do not receive government support and rely on school fees of about $18 to $21 a month.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rise Against Hunger focuses on linking nutrition to education by easing food costs for centres so more resources can be used to improve learning environments. \u201cIt’s about linking nutrition and education,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said long-term solutions must also include sustainable food sources and stronger collaboration between government, civil society, business and communities. \u201cI think corporate SA have really stepped up over the years,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brian said many companies now work closely with charities through corporate social investment programmes, but the scale of need remains significant. \u201cThe challenge is huge. I think that’s the biggest problem,\u201d Brian said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41445,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-41444","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Rise Against Hunger says South Africa (SA) must urgently expand nutrition support in early childhood to prevent child hunger from deepening into a long-term development crisis.","published_date":"","news_description":"Rise Against Hunger says South Africa (SA) must urgently expand nutrition support in early childhood to prevent child hunger from deepening into a long-term development crisis.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41446,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41444\/revisions\/41446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=41444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}