FOOD AND DIGNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA: END HUNGER NOW
About Us
Hunger isn’t about food scarcity - it’s about justice. In South Africa, the lack of meaningful progress on the right to access sufficient food and basic nutrition, remains a grave injustice, leaving millions vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. It is against this backdrop that the UAH was founded, as part of the he ongoing struggle to demand urgent action and accountability.
The UAH stands in solidarity with global movements committed to transforming food systems and defending the right of all people to access adequate nutritious food. By aligning our national struggle with these international efforts, we amplify the demand for justice and strengthen collective action against hunger and inequality.
Strategic Pillars
The Union Against Hunger structures its food justice advocacy across four main areas:
Public mobilisation & dialogue:
Organising hunger hearings, community assemblies, and media engagement, to highlight the hunger crisis in the national conversation.
Corporate accountability:
Campaigning against high food prices and other practices by powerful food system actors that keep basic nutritious food unaffordable for the poor
Policy influence:
Engaging directly with policymakers, using evidence-based advocacy, to shift government policies and bring about structural transformation to the food system.
Legal action to enforce rights:
Supporting efforts to launch litigation to compel the state to meet its constitutional obligations on the rights to sufficient food and basic nutrition..
UAH mobilisation activities peak each year around World Hunger Day (28 May) and World Food Day (16 October), towards the goal of achieving an equitable food system and an end to hunger.
At its core, Union Against Hunger plays four key roles:
Convenor of stakeholders,
uniting organisations, communities, and sectors to align efforts and foster collaboration.
Aggregator of community efforts, amplifying grassroots initiatives and scaling up solutions.
Advocate for policy change,
leveraging South Africa’s constitutional framework to drive policy and legislative changes.
Mobiliser of vulnerable groups, ensuring that women, children, youth, and marginalised communities lead the fight for food justice.
10 Unacceptable facts about HUNGER in South Africa
Media
Stay up to date with the latest news, events, and advocacy efforts by following our public awareness campaigns, policy wins, and community initiatives
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CIVIL SOCIETY WORKSHOP ON THE National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP)
Government is developing a new National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP-2, 2027–2037) and has committed to provincial consultations from September…
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Explaining the Normalisation of Black Hunger in South Africa: Not Enough Food, or Not Enough Empathy?
Indicators of hunger such as child stunting rates are disproportionately high in South Africa, more than three decades after the transition…
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Students tell of going up to seven days without food
University students recount skipping meals, relying on friends and university aid to manage the financial burden of student living. Research by…
Core Mission & Approach
Rather than operating as a traditional charity, handing out food parcels or running soup kitchens, UAH approaches food insecurity as a constitutional and human rights violation, caused by deep systemic inequalities. The movement aims to hold government and private sector actors accountable under the South African Constitution, which guarantees everyone the right to access sufficient food (Section 27), and every child the right to basic nutrition (Sections 28). Core values of UAH are human dignity, social justice, and corporate and government accountability.
