The Commission emphasises that hunger is a profound constitutional and human rights issue intrinsically linked to poverty, unemployment, inequality, land insecurity and unequal access to economic opportunity. Section 27 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to have access to sufficient food and water, while Section 28 further guarantees every child the right to basic nutrition.

The persistence of hunger in South Africa cannot be separated from broader structural conditions including unemployment, rising food costs, spatial inequality, land dispossession, inadequate access to productive resources and increasing vulnerability within food systems resulting from worsening climate change conditions. South Africa’s obligations in relation to hunger, poverty and food insecurity arise not only from the Constitution, but also from regional and international human rights commitments undertaken by the State. Within the African human rights system, South Africa is bound by obligations arising from the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which protects rights relating to dignity, health, development and socio-economic wellbeing, as well as broader regional commitments.

South Africa’s obligations are further reinforced under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which recognises the right of everyone to adequate food and to be free from hunger under article 11. The State is additionally guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 2 aimed at Zero Hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Through its ongoing National Inquiry into the Food Systems of South Africa (Inquiry), the Commission continues to engage a broad range of stakeholders, including affected communities, government departments, civil society organisations, academics, researchers and the private sector, in order to better understand the structural drivers of food insecurity and barriers to equitable access to food in South Africa.

Issues arising through the Inquiry process include concerns relating to food affordability, concentration within food systems, unequal access to land, vulnerabilities affecting farm dwellers and informal settlements, climate and environmental pressures, and the broader relationship between food insecurity, dignity and socio-economic exclusion. The Inquiry will re-convene in July 2026, to further probe the question of food security and to seek solutions. The Commission reiterates that responses to hunger must move beyond short-term relief measures and address the deeper structural conditions that continue to undermine food security and food sovereignty in South Africa. This includes strengthening access to land, improving accountability across food systems, including amongst major retailers, suppliers and large commercial agricultural actors, and confronting the concentration of power in food production and distribution networks.

The Commission further note concerns regarding the increasing displacement of indigenous farming knowledge, traditional seed systems and small-scale agricultural practices by highly commercialised and industrial farming models dependent on imported seeds, chemical-intensive pesticides and monoculture production. These dynamics have broader implications for food quality, nutritional access, community resilience and the long-term ability of vulnerable communities to exercise meaningful control over food production systems.

The SAHRC remains committed to utilising its constitutional mandate to advance the protection and promotion of socio-economic rights and to ensure that the right to food receives the urgency and attention it requires within South Africa’s broader constitutional democracy.

ENDS

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION