COVID-19, Food Insecurity and aGovernment Response: Reflections from South Africa

The goal of this paper is to examine how life, already hard before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has further deteriorated and compounded the difficulties South Africans experience in accessing food. As a point of departure, the paper argues that while food insecurity has always been a feature in South Africa, COVID-19 has laid bare the ineffective policy response by successive governments over the years. Food insecurity in the country is not new, but the government's ineffective response has allowed COVID-19 to intensify poverty and inequality among the most vulnerable. To explore how COVID-19 has exacerbated the food insecurity problem in the country, this paperemployed a qualitative research approach where secondary data was collected through a review of the literature. From the outset, it was observable that government responses to COVID-19 were not only going to cost jobs and further entrench poverty and inequality, but were also going to exacerbate the food insecurity problem in the country. Even though government measures to cushion the poor and vulnerable have largely been welcomed, they have been tainted by corruption, thus clouding their overall effectiveness. It is recommended that the government be proactive rather than reactive in addressing issues around food insecurity.