Food Security in South Africa: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic on Creating Sustainable Value Chains Through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

For more than 25 years, South Africans have been living in a pandemic-like environment where access to adequate healthcare, food security, adequate housing and necessities that make people human is unevenly distributed. This position has remained the same even post-democracy, as ineffective methods were used to eradicate inequality and food insecurity. Prior to the pandemic, the hunger of millions of South African households has been a constant presence, where families do not have access to food. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the country’s overlooked crisis of food security by exposing with great concern the harsh reality of the lack of access to food for millions of South Africans. According to the Global Food Security Index, South Africa is the most food-secure country on the African continent. However, millions of South Africans go hungry every day. This position is reflected in a lack of access to food in a country where local food production and export are taking place on a massive scale. This paper seeks to provide a new perspective on re-envisioning the food security system in South Africa. The paper will discuss how corporate social responsibility (CSR) could provide avenues for food security and play a role in food equality as a key driver of food security after the pandemic and after the lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Drawing on the strengths of the CSR framework, the paper argues that CSR can enhance an understanding of South Africa’s position in ensuring sustainable food security. This will also include the areas in which government and other social partners can intervene in the food security system in a way that promotes human dignity, equality, and the freedom of all persons, as espoused in the Constitution.