Preparing for NFNSP Engagement and Strengthening Civil Society Coordination on Right to Food Activism
South Africa’s food system is deeply embedded in social relations that impoverish some while enriching others, perpetuating structural injustices rooted in dispossession, exploitation, racism, and patriarchy. These inequities manifest in widespread hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity, despite constitutional guarantees of the right to access sufficient food and basic nutrition (Republic of South Africa, 1996). Current policy consultations on the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP) offer a rare and critical opportunity for civil society to intervene decisively and form part of the agenda setting. To seize this moment, we must consolidate our analysis, strengthen collective positions, and mobilize constituencies to demand accountability and food justice.
Rationale
Food insecurity in South Africa is not a matter of scarcity but of affordability and inequality. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) carried out the latest comprehensive national survey on food security and nutrition between 2021 and 2023. Its findings reveal a sobering reality: more than a quarter of households (26.7%) are moderately food insecure, while nearly one in five (17.5%) face severe food insecurity (HSRC, 2023). Only just over a third of households in South Africa – 36.5% – enjoy full food security (HSRC, 2023). The situation for children is equally alarming with rates of stunting caused by undernutrition, now reported to be nearing 30% (HSRC, 2023), this is further compounded by the cost of a nutritious diet which consistently exceeds the food poverty line (PMBEJD, 2026). The implications of these burdens are disproportionately shouldered by working-class and poor women. Grants and social programmes such as the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) have failed to keep pace with food inflation, eroding their impact. This reality reflects not only a profound social and moral crisis but also a direct violation of the constitutional right to access sufficient food and basic nutrition.
Civil Society Workshop: Raising the Ante for Right to Food Activism in South Africa
The basic human right to food in South Africa is consistently undermined by structural inequalities, economic disparities, and political failures. The country’s neoliberal and capitalist‑driven food system prioritizes profit over people, neglecting small‑scale farmers, working class women, and local communities. Market dynamics incentivise practices that externalize costs in the form of hunger, malnutrition, environmental destruction, and contributions to climate change (Weis, 2010; Vincent & Feola, 2020; Jones et al., 2010). As such, the quest for a more sustainable and nourishing food system for all is therefore not merely technical but profoundly political. Effective governance mechanisms across policy sectors and levels remain lacking (Barling et al., 2002; Candel & Pereira, 2017). Our success will depend on the ability of right‑to‑food defenders, from working class women, farmers, and fisherfolk to consumers, to adjust their everyday practices and organise for reform (Spaargaren et al., 2012). Importantly, we must now raise the ante by addressing the current regression and violation of food rights in the country and confront affordability head-on, while ensuring gender and climate justice in the food system. This includes interrogating who profits from food price dynamics, and amplifying alternatives that empower communities. It is in this context that civil society organisations, scholars, and activists are convening a meeting with the aim of developing a common analysis and preparing positions to engage on the latest National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP).
The meeting will take place over one and a half days. Day one will frame the right‑to‑food struggle, interrogate the affordability crisis, and explore civil society perspectives on the NFNSP. The day will conclude with a strategy caucus. Day two will focus on preparing constituencies for consultations, drafting common positions, and setting out a roadmap for collective action. This is not simply a dialogue; it is about building activism rooted in solidarity, analysis, and mobilisation.
Understanding the NFNSP Process
The Department of Agriculture (DoA) recently convened a consultation with civil society and academia on the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP), presenting the latest draft of a framework that lapsed four years ago. The revised plan extends its horizon to ten years; beginning in 2027, it introduces a proposed Food and Nutrition Security Act, and a rework of governance structures. While the consultation process has been open and participatory, significant concerns remain. Civil society’s role at provincial and municipal levels is still undefined, the National Food and Nutrition Security Council has yet to become functional, and no new budget has been allocated for implementation. In this context, it is critical that the gains already secured in the latest draft – on social protection, food affordability, agroecology, informal sector recognition, and corporate regulation – are not only safeguarded but advanced.
The government has committed to sharing a revised draft in August, with written submissions requested by mid‑August. Provincial roadshows are planned for September, followed by a national indaba in October – the last public consultation before ministerial and cabinet approval, targeted for March 2027. Civil society must prepare to engage these processes strategically, ensuring that the right to access sufficient food and basic nutrition is not sidelined.
Objectives of the Workshop
- Prepare civil society and grassroots organisations to engage with NFNSP consultations;
- Contribute to a shared framing and priorities for CSOs and grassroots organisations to advance the right to food (including gender and climate justice);
- Lay a basis for shared advocacy strategies and actions beyond the NFNSP.
Planned outcomes:
- A shared analysis of the right to food, affordability, and a climate and gender just food system that informs further engagement;
- With this shared analysis, civil society and grassroots organisations are more prepared to engage in the upcoming public consultations and implementation based on a shared analysis;
- Increased coordination amongst civil society and grassroots organisations for the public consultations and beyond on right to food activism.
Planned outputs:
- Brief written document highlighting key policy, content and strategic priorities emerging from the workshop for civil society to inform engagement and proposals in public consultations with the Department of Agriculture;
- Action plan for civil society and grassroots organisation engagement with the NFNSP and more broadly on the right to food and gender and climate just food systems;
- Brief workshop report.
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