tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/food-insecure-21350/articlesFood insecure – The Conversation2023-11-17T16:36:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180482023-11-17T16:36:02Z2023-11-17T16:36:02ZSouth Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need to rethink their approach<p>South Africa’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzyqFKC2x1Q">crime statistics</a> for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The country’s <a href="https://issafrica.org/events/understanding-escalating-levels-of-murder-in-south-africa">per capita murder rate for 2022/23</a> was the highest in 20 years at 45 per 100,000 (a 50% increase compared to 2012/13).</p>
<p>In response to this crisis, the South African Police Service has reconfigured its <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/37753/">policing strategies and plans</a>. Yet, these approaches offer very little innovation. They mostly reaffirm the way the police have typically pursued policing for the past three decades – fighting a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1503831">“war” on crime</a> and <a href="https://ewn.co.za/topic/operation-fiela">“sweeping away”</a> criminals. </p>
<p>In my view the police have adopted unsuitable crime fighting strategies. This is a “war” the police can’t win on their own, because violent crime is a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462816_WHY_IS_CRIME_IN_SOUTH_AFRICA_SO_VIOLENT_Updated_Rapid_Evidence_Assessment_on_Violent_Crime_in_South_Africa">complex phenomenon</a>. It requires <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC47702">whole-of-government</a> and <a href="https://www.csir.co.za/sites/default/files/Documents/Making%20South%20Africa%20Safe.pdf">whole-of-society</a> approaches. Government departments, civil society groups and the private sector should pool resources and <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/7/e009972">work together</a> in a co-ordinated manner. They must be guided by a common plan. Otherwise crime prevention efforts will be piecemeal, lacking effectiveness.</p>
<h2>Determinants and complexity of violent crime</h2>
<p>The scholarly literature on violent crime in South Africa, including <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462816_WHY_IS_CRIME_IN_SOUTH_AFRICA_SO_VIOLENT_Updated_Rapid_Evidence_Assessment_on_Violent_Crime_in_South_Africa">my research</a>, indicates that interpersonal violence is typically the outcome of a combination of risk factors over time. </p>
<p>One of them is the idea that violence is a legitimate means to resolve conflict between people. </p>
<p>Another is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462669_Towards_a_more_comprehensive_understanding_of_the_direct_and_indirect_determinants_of_violence_against_women_and_children_in_South_Africa_with_a_view_to_enhancing_violence_prevention">childhood experiences</a> of violence.</p>
<p>Socio-economic elements, such as poverty, unemployment and inadequate living conditions, underpin violence, mainly for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1097184X17696171?journalCode=jmma">younger men</a>. Feelings of stress, frustration and humiliation, combined with substance abuse (chiefly alcohol), inequitable gender norms and the availability of weapons, especially <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-spike-in-gun-crime-angers-citizens/a-64903654">firearms</a>, often results in violent behaviour.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-wont-become-less-violent-until-its-more-equal-103116">South Africa won't become less violent until it's more equal</a>
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<p>Given what studies say about the determinants of violence, I predicted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that South Africa would soon face a <a href="https://www.saferspaces.org.za/blog/entry/the-coming-crime-catastrophe">crime catastrophe</a>. The pandemic and lockdown regulations had increased poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. This would exacerbate existing risk factors for violence, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>domestic abuse </p></li>
<li><p>learners dropping out of school </p></li>
<li><p>diminishing prospects of meaningful jobs, especially for young, marginalised men. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In 2021/22 there was a significant <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/services/downloads/Annual-Crime-2021_2022-web.pdf">increase</a> in all categories of violent crime. </p>
<p>Since then there’s been no reduction in these risks, especially <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-06-eight-million-hungry-children-new-report-about-the-shocking-impact-of-poverty-on-young-south-africans/">food insecurity</a>, <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/sa-sees-job-growth-but-its-cold-comfort-for-millions-of-unemployed-youth-left-behind-20231115">youth unemployment</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/press-releases/crime-statistics-devastating-violence-against-children-and-women-continues">child abuse</a> and the <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/723902/south-africas-shocking-school-dropout-rate-revealed/">school dropout rate</a>. The <a href="https://issafrica.org/events/understanding-escalating-levels-of-murder-in-south-africa">murder rate per capita</a> has increased from 33.5 per 100,000 during the COVID-19 period (2020/21) to 45 per 100,000 in 2022/23. </p>
<h2>Police and the prevention of violent crime</h2>
<p>Even though the police are <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/police-work-social-organization-policing">not able</a> to do anything directly about many of the underlying risk factors for violence, <a href="https://www.police1.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/law-enforcement-strategies-to-reduce-violence-wItHuxvLO0IHLEEk/">studies</a> have shown that specific policing interventions can make a difference in reducing violent crime. </p>
<p>The police can work closely with communities to devise <a href="https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/model-programs-guide/literature-reviews/community-oriented-problem-oriented-policing">cooperative solutions</a> to crime problems. They can also collect and use relevant <a href="https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/d/3/327476.pdf">intelligence</a> to design and implement <a href="https://issafrica.org/crimehub/analysis/research/evidence-based-policing-for-south-africa-an-introduction-for-police-officers-researchers-and-communities">evidence-based</a> crime prevention actions. These should focus on the areas where criminal offending is most <a href="https://time.com/6227552/hotspot-policing-crime-effectiveness/">concentrated</a>, and on the <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/works-reduce-crime-summary-evidence/pages/6/">situations</a> that tend to drive that behaviour. </p>
<p>Interventions require a <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/successfully-reducing-violent-crime-with-multimodal-community-and-police-engagement-interventions/">competent, adequately resourced and professional</a> police organisation and a fair and effective <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/effectiveness-and-fairness-of-judicial-systems_5jfrmmrhkcs2.pdf">criminal justice system</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 1990s the work of the police has included community-oriented approaches. <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/resources/2008/community-policing-lit-review/elements-of-com-policing.pdf">Best practice</a> is for police to treat community safety groups as equal partners. Solutions to crime problems are <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/from-crisis-to-community-policing/">co-created</a>. </p>
<p>But the police’s approach has been the converse. They have <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/community-policing-forums-should-be-holding-police-accountable/">co-opted</a> community safety groups, such as <a href="https://crimehub.org/iss-today/are-south-africas-community-police-forums-losing-their-impartiality">community police forums</a> and neighbourhood watches, to be <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=45270">force multipliers</a>. Studies have shown that such a method is often <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/171676.pdf">ineffective</a>.</p>
<p>For the past three decades, South African police have prioritised <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1503831">militarised policing approaches</a>, such as <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=47240">Operation Shanela</a> (“to sweep” in isiZulu). They encourage police to be more <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2023-11-12-cele-doubles-down-on-cops-right-to-use-deadly-force/">forceful</a> in their interactions with alleged criminals.</p>
<p>There is very <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1805161115">little evidence</a> to suggest that militarised policing brings down violent crime rates. Instead, it can erode public trust in the police. This is certainly evident in South Africa, where only <a href="https://hsrc.ac.za/press-releases/dces/feeling-blue-changing-patterns-of-trust-in-the-police-in-south-africa/">27%</a> of the population view the police as trustworthy (from 47% in 1999). </p>
<p>Police effectiveness in combating crime has also been undermined by <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/37753/">declining personnel numbers</a>. In 2018, there were 150,639 police personnel, but this is now 140,048. There has also been a substantial decline in the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/politics/90-drop-in-police-reservists-devastating-to-high-crime-levels-20231114">police reserve force</a>. </p>
<p>High levels of crime have placed <a href="https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1991-38772020000100003">considerable pressure</a> on the criminal justice system too. Conviction rates for violent crime are very low. For example, between 2019/20 and 2021/22, police recorded 66,486 murder cases. Of these, only 8,103 (12%) resulted in a guilty verdict.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The good news is that the government does not exclusively depend on policing plans to tackle crime. It has also developed multi-departmental and evidence-based strategies and plans to prevent crime. These are derived from Chapter 12 of the <a href="https://www.nationalplanningcommission.org.za/assets/Documents/NDP_Chapters/devplan_ch12_0.pdf">National Development Plan</a>. It calls for: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>police to be more professional, demilitarised and work in partnership with communities</p></li>
<li><p>an improved criminal justice system </p></li>
<li><p>an integrated crime prevention strategy. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In 2022 the cabinet approved the <a href="http://www.policesecretariat.gov.za/downloads/reports/Final%20Approved%20Integrated%20Crime%20Violence%20Prevention%20Strategy.pdf">Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy</a>. It seeks to achieve a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach given the multi-dimensional nature of the risk factors that drive violent crime. Furthermore, this strategy encourages government and other elements of society to jointly address common crime problems and collaboratively determine prevention strategies, especially at the community level. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-are-feeling-more-insecure-do-ramaphosas-plans-add-up-176991">South Africans are feeling more insecure: do Ramaphosa's plans add up?</a>
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<p>There was also the recognition that various government departments (and not just the police) needed to work closely with civil society and the private sector to drive down crime levels.</p>
<p>The problem is that the implementation of strategy is in limbo. No government agency has been willing to take responsibility for it. That’s because there is no direct budgetary allocation, given the highly <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/budget-speech/664953/4-major-risks-that-godongwana-needs-to-address-in-the-2023-budget-next-week/">constrained government purse</a>. </p>
<p>High levels of crime and low levels of policing have substantial <a href="https://www.news24.com/citypress/business/the-crippling-cost-of-violence-20221125#:%7E:text=Violent%20crimes%20cost%20South%20Africa%20about%2019%25%20of%20GDP%20annually.">negative effects</a> on economic performance. So investing adequate resources to carry out the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy will not only reduce violent crime, but also contribute to economic growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guy Lamb receives funding from Norwegian Research Council. He is a Commissioner on South Africa's National Planning Commission. </span></em></p>Government departments, civil society groups and the private sector should pool resources and work together in a co-ordinated manner to prevent violent crime.Guy Lamb, Criminologist / Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838512022-06-01T15:04:27Z2022-06-01T15:04:27ZZimbabwe’s 2023 elections: how to judge candidates’ social protection promises<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465668/original/file-20220527-17-v9r9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traders examine bales of tobacco, which is among Zimbabwe's key exports, at a March 2022 auction in Harare.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Aaron Ufumeli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Zimbabwe is heading for general polls <a href="https://www.eisa.org/calendar-comprehensive.php">in 2023</a> amid an ongoing macroeconomic crisis. In the decade starting from 2001, the state-led economy started to show <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-inflation-idUSL1992587420070919">signs of strain</a>. Unemployment <a href="https://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp197654.pdf?iframe">reached 85%</a>. Inflation, which was a staggering <a href="https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/Hanke_zimbabwe_091708.pdf">79,000,000%</a> in 2008, came down but has been rising in the <a href="https://take-profit.org/en/statistics/inflation-rate/zimbabwe/">past two years</a>. It is still <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/zimbabwe/inflation-cpi">among the highest in the world</a>.</p>
<p>The economic crisis has heightened the vulnerability of households and the need for social protection to prevent hunger among poor households, complement the risk mitigation mechanisms of informal workers, and improve access to social services such as education, health and water.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-informal-sector-organisations-in-zimbabwe-shape-notions-of-citizenship-180455">How informal sector organisations in Zimbabwe shape notions of citizenship</a>
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<p>It is highly unlikely that the formal economy will turn the tide soon to create formal employment, which is vital for the stability of household income, and reduce the need to support food insecure households. </p>
<p>In the last presidential election in 2018, several presidential candidates promised to provide social protection for citizens.</p>
<p>The ruling party, <a href="https://webcms.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/495/country_documents-2020/Zimbabwe/ZANU_PF_2018_MANIFESTO_ENGLISH_%20(39.51).pdf">Zanu-PF promised</a> to create safety nets and enhance access to health and education services. Safety nets are also called <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29115">social assistance</a> and typically include cash and food transfers, public works, subsidies and fee waivers for education and health.</p>
<p>The Zanu-PF government’s safety net package includes cash transfers to <a href="https://social-assistance.africa.undp.org/data">52,049 households</a>, public monthly maintenance allowances in form of food and or cash to <a href="https://social-assistance.africa.undp.org/data">6,688 households</a> and paltry tuition grants and examination fee subsidies <a href="https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/outcry-over-paltry-beam-allocations/">for underprivileged students</a>. </p>
<p>The main opposition party, MDC-Alliance (now <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CitizensCoalition4Change">Citizens Coalition for Change</a>), promised to bolster social protection and <a href="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MDC-ALLIANCE-SMART-MANIFESTO.pdf">reform the National Social Security Authority</a>. The terms <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_604882/lang--en/index.html">“social protection” and “social security”</a> are used interchangeably, and typically include social assistance and social insurance measures.</p>
<p>Little-known opposition parties also made promises. For instance, the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/People%E2%80%99s_Rainbow_Coalition">People’s Rainbow Coalition</a> promised to <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/povonews/peoples-rainbow-coalition-2018-election-manifesto-idea">provide social security</a>, and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/APAZimbabwe">Alliance for the People’s Agenda</a> undertook to <a href="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/APA-Manifesto-2018.pdf">deliver social packages</a> such as support for education and health care.</p>
<p>As Zimbabwe heads for 2023 presidential elections, due to be held on <a href="http://www.news.cn/english/africa/2021-11/11/c_1310303313.html">23 April 2023</a>, new or recycled promises will be made to voters. </p>
<p>Voters must judge candidates by the soundness of their promises to improve the reach of cash and food transfers to poor households, extend social insurance coverage to informal workers, and facilitate access to education, health and water for all citizens.</p>
<h2>What’s in place</h2>
<p>I have <a href="https://www.undp.org/africa/publications/state-social-assistance-africa-report">researched</a> <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/social-protection-operational-tool-humanitarian-development-and-peace-nexus-linkages">social protection</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2516602620936028">in Zimbabwe and beyond</a> for the past decade. There are a few key social protection measures to consider. Among them are social insurance, such as pension, sickness, maternity and unemployment benefits. These depend on contributions from formal economy workers and their employers. </p>
<p>The coverage of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfers programme is <a href="https://social-assistance.africa.undp.org/data">limited to 52,049 households</a>. So, it covers only 6% of the food insecure households. But over four million Zimbabweans, out of a population of <a href="https://populationstat.com/zimbabwe/">15 million</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/press-releases/zimbabwe-rated-one-worlds-top-global-food-crises-new-united-nations-report">are food insecure</a>.</p>
<p>The flagship social assistance programme gives households between US$20-50 bimonthly, depending on household size.</p>
<p>Since inception in 2011, the programme has covered <a href="https://socialprotection.org/discover/programmes/harmonised-social-cash-transfer-hsct">less than 20 districts</a>. There are 59 districts in Zimbabwe and all have food insecure households. </p>
<p>Then there’s <a href="https://www.nssa.org.zw/news-blogs/talking-social-security/schemes-for-social-protection/">social insurance</a> which covers pensions and worker compensation. But this doesn’t cover the risks faced by most workers as it only applies to formal employment. Only 15% of Zimbabweans are employed in the formal economy while 85% work in the <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2020-09-16-outlook-for-informal-economy-in-zimbabwe-is-dire-after-harsh-covid-19-response/">informal economy</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insights-from-zimbabwe-on-how-to-link-formal-and-informal-economies-182353">Insights from Zimbabwe on how to link formal and informal economies</a>
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<p>Many informal workers create their own risk mitigation mechanisms such as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020872815611196">burial societies</a> or subscribe to funeral insurance policies to cover funeral expenses, which can be as high as their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-020-09498-8">yearly income</a>. </p>
<p>Another cost that could be covered by social protection is school fees. According to the Zimbabwe National Vulnerability Assessment Committee <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-vulnerability-assessment-committee-zimvac-2020-rural-livelihoods-assessment">2020 report</a>, 50.3% of children of school-going age were sent away from school in the first term of 2020 because they could not pay fees. </p>
<p>The report also notes that 75% of all rural residents who are chronically ill miss their medication because they cannot afford it. </p>
<p>In the short-term, social protection must focus on fee waivers to improve access to education and health care services for all citizens. In the medium term, all these critical social services must be brought within acceptable travelling distances.</p>
<h2>Lessons from elsewhere</h2>
<p>A number of countries in Southern African Development Community region have national social cash transfers for all vulnerable people of a certain demographic group. For instance, in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, older people receive an <a href="https://social-assistance.africa.undp.org/data">old age grant</a>.</p>
<p>Some governments in Africa complement the risk mitigation mechanisms of informal workers. For instance, the Rwandan government adds a matching contribution plus life and funeral insurance policies on the contributions that informal workers make <a href="https://ejoheza.gov.rw/ltss-registration-ui/landing.xhtml;jsessionid=BFC430CED41625AEB78C47507D381B8C">towards their pension</a>.</p>
<p>In Ghana, the government contributes 5% to the new national pension scheme, which <a href="https://www.ssnit.org.gh/faq/the-new-pension-scheme/#:%7E:text=The%20new%20National%20Pension%20Scheme,benefits%20as%20and%20when%20due.&text=The%20New%20Pension%20Scheme%20was,implementation%20started%20in%20January%202010">includes informal workers</a>.</p>
<p>Free access to education has had positive impact on enrolment in <a href="https://world-education-blog.org/2016/01/27/can-africa-afford-free-education/#:%7E:text=Among%20the%2053%20countries%20with,of%20Tanzania%20and%20Uganda%20show">Kenya, Malawi and Uganda</a>. There are fee waivers for health care in countries such as <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29115">Eswatini and Burundi</a>.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>It’s important to address two issues when it comes to social protection in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>The first is the lingering view that social protection creates a dependency syndrome – not only in Zimbabwe, but Africa-wide. This <a href="https://academic.oup.com/wbro/article/33/2/259/5127165">myth has been busted</a> by scientific evidence showing that cash transfers do not lead to fewer people seeking jobs.</p>
<p>The second is whether the state can afford to finance the extension of social protection to all food insecure households. </p>
<p>In a constrained macroeconomic environment such as Zimbabwe’s, funding social protection among other competing needs is about budget priorities more than it is an issue of sourcing new revenue.</p>
<p>Where there is high unemployment and food insecurity, it is socially and legally justified for the poor to depend on social assistance as it is their right, for which the government must be held accountable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gift Dafuleya does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Zimbabwe heads for 2023 presidential elections, there are key things voters should watch out for in the social protection promises made by candidates.Gift Dafuleya, Lecturer in Economics, University of VendaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1795432022-04-20T12:17:20Z2022-04-20T12:17:20ZHuman rights declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, in countries from Angola to the US to New Zealand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458330/original/file-20220415-20-w4sju7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pro-democracy protesters are arrested by police in Hong Kong on May 24, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/prodemocracy-protesters-are-arrested-by-police-in-the-causeway-bay-picture-id1214821212?s=2048x2048">Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/03/how-authoritarians-are-exploiting-covid-19-crisis-grab-power">Human rights activists</a> and international leaders <a href="https://www.un.org/victimsofterrorism/sites/www.un.org.victimsofterrorism/files/un_-_human_rights_and_covid_april_2020.pdf">first warned</a> in April 2020 that countries could use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to crack down on human rights.</p>
<p>Human rights refers to a wide range of political and social rights <a href="https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights">recognized by international law</a>. It includes everything from people’s right to work and receive an education to people’s right to freely express their opinions and participate in politics. </p>
<p><a href="https://stephenbagwell.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pandemic-page-proofs.pdf">Human rights scholars and I show in new research</a> that human rights violations ultimately happened in 2020. Each of the 39 countries we analyzed – including Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States – saw an overall decrease in human rights in 2020. </p>
<p>There is new evidence that some <a href="https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/sites/default/files/2021_global_analysis_-_final.pdf">countries continue to use</a> the pandemic as a reason to restrict human rights by <a href="https://findings2021.monitor.civicus.org/rating-changes.html#global-press-release">muzzling dissent</a>, and specifically by limiting people’s rights to gather or demonstrate with others. </p>
<p>Our analysis of human rights in 2020 offers a window into the start of this downward trend.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Rows of young people, some of whom are holding Black Lives Matter flags, walk together down an empty Manhattan street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458331/original/file-20220415-16-1nx5lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators walk in New York City during a Black Lives Matter protest in August 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/derrick-ingram-marches-with-kiara-williams-organizational-leader-for-picture-id1264763255?s=2048x2048">Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No overall improvement</h2>
<p>More than two years after the World Health Organization first declared the COVID-19 outbreak <a href="https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020">a pandemic</a>, some human rights analyses show a continued regression of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/11/two-years-what-has-covid-19-taught-us">human rights</a>.</p>
<p>Declarations of emergency, for example, gave police significant power to crack down on political protests. </p>
<p>Cambodia <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/04/un-experts-urge-cambodia-review-approach-covid-19?LangID=E&NewsID=26985">passed a law</a> in April 2021, for example, in response to COVID-19 that grants the government authority to prevent any gatherings or protests. Violators can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Hundreds of individuals were arrested for violating this law <a href="https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/sites/default/files/2021_global_analysis_-_final.pdf">in 2021</a>.</p>
<p>In March 2022, Thailand again extended a state of emergency, originally established in April 2020, <a href="https://opendevelopmentmekong.net/news/coronavirus-thailand-extends-state-of-emergency-until-may-31/">through May</a>, giving authorities broad power to set public curfews and restrict meetings. Thai <a href="https://www.fortifyrights.org/tha-inv-2021-09-28/">authorities charged at least</a> 900 anti-government protesters under this emergency decree between May 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021. </p>
<h2>2020 findings</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/">Human Rights Measurement Initiative</a>, a research group headquartered in New Zealand, and other human rights monitoring organizations are still collecting comprehensive global data for 2021 and 2022.</p>
<p>The initiative last reported on human rights data <a href="https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Human-Rights-During-the-Pandemic.pdf">in June 2021</a>, informing our research.</p>
<p>But there are other sources of evidence that the <a href="https://carnegieeurope.eu/2022/03/24/has-pandemic-done-lasting-damage-to-democratic-freedoms-in-europe-pub-86704">pandemic’s damage to human rights</a> will not quickly lift, even as COVID-19 cases decline globally.</p>
<p>Some positive changes during the pandemic, like addressing <a href="https://www.urban.org/features/out-pandemic-better-approach-homelessness">homelessness more seriously</a>, were “swamped by the many more negative impacts of government responses to COVID-19,” according to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative. </p>
<p>The initiative <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwwTHRH_tpk&t=3s">surveyed human rights experts, journalists and lawyers</a> in 2020 and 2021. It found that government protection of <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20999/volume-999-i-14668-english.pdf">civil and political rights</a> and <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20993/volume-993-I-14531-English.pdf">economic and social rights</a> declined from 2019 to 2020.</p>
<p>This group produces human rights data because governments themselves are often unwilling to share accurate information about human rights violations.</p>
<p>The Human Rights Measurement Initiative’s findings are widely <a href="https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/JPR-Manuscript-HRMI-CPR-2020.pdf">used by</a> scholars, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/454831/samoa-s-gender-based-violence-still-a-concern-at-un-rights-council">nonprofits</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-data-tool-scores-australia-and-other-countries-on-their-human-rights-performance-93942">journalists</a>. </p>
<p>The United States and Hong Kong serve as two examples of places where the pandemic led to a decline in respect for human rights.</p>
<h2>The United States</h2>
<p><a href="https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Appendix-to-Human-Rights-in-the-Pandemic.pdf">The United States</a> is one of many countries that scored worse on human rights in 2020 than in 2019, according to the initiative’s 2021 survey. </p>
<p>In the U.S. in 2020, public health restrictions, like limits on public gatherings, also led to human rights abuses and the use of excessive force by police, survey respondents said.</p>
<p>The reason people were protesting appeared to have influenced whether police targeted and arrested demonstrators, <a href="https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HRMI-CPR-Methodology-Guide-2021.pdf">survey respondents reported</a>. People protesting social justice issues, like racial justice and gun violence, were especially likely to be arrested.</p>
<p>People arrested for alleged infractions during lawful demonstrations during the pandemic were also put at risk of contracting COVID-19 because of cramped detention spaces where people could not <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/04/police-arrest-coronavirus-301913">socially distance</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="New York police officers wear masks and carry a young Black man by all of his limbs through a street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458334/original/file-20220415-24-gehvq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York police officers arrest a protester on May 29, 2020, during a Black Lives Matter protest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/new-york-police-officers-arrest-a-protester-on-may-29-during-a-black-picture-id1216202680?s=2048x2048">Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hong Kong</h2>
<p>China passed new security laws in Hong Kong in June 2020, allowing it <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/beijing-passes-new-hong-kong-security-law-n1232330">to crack down</a> on opposition speech and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-court-idUSKBN22U1BD">arrest journalists and pro-democracy activists</a>. </p>
<p>Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong – a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/asia/hong-kong-security-law-explain.html">special administrative region</a> of China – <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48607723">intensified in 2020</a>. In 2021, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-hong-kong-beijing-democracy-national-security-9e3c405923c24b6889c1bcf171f6def4">democracy movement</a> in Hong Kong broke down with the arrest of more than 100 pro-democracy leaders. </p>
<p>The Chinese government and police reportedly enforced pandemic regulations unevenly in 2020, according to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative – pro-democracy and government opposition protesters were more likely to experience restrictions.</p>
<p>Survey respondents in Hong Kong said they believe the government used the pandemic as a cover for restricting rights for other reasons.</p>
<p>Officials in Hong Kong <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3095461/hong-kong-legislative-council-elections-be-postponed">delayed general elections</a> set for July 2020 by five months, citing COVID-19 concerns. </p>
<p>In February 2022, Hong Kong again <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/19/world/asia/hong-kong-election-covid.html">postponed elections</a> of its next political leader allegedly because of a COVID-19 surge. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Police wearing face masks stand over a row of young people seated against a wall in Hong Kong." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458333/original/file-20220415-12636-hyhozf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Riot police detain pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on May 27, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/riot-police-mass-detain-prodemocracy-protesters-during-a-rally-in-picture-id1215623110?s=2048x2048">Anthony Kwan/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lasting trends</h2>
<p>The pandemic has prompted <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14754835.2020.1830046">growing awareness</a> of structural inequalities based on wealth, ethnicity, gender and race, giving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2020.1814709">some reasons</a> for hope. </p>
<p>In many places, governments are lifting <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00620-7">COVID-19 restrictions</a>, which could allow more individuals to return to work and school and gather or travel more freely. </p>
<p>Human rights <a href="https://findings2021.monitor.civicus.org/rating-changes.html#global-press-release">continue to decline</a> in most countries, though, according to the global alliance CIVICUS. </p>
<p>The pandemic also continues to draw public attention away from some human rights violations that are happening in ongoing wars, as in Yemen and Ethiopia. </p>
<p><a href="https://stephenbagwell.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pandemic-page-proofs.pdf">Our analysis</a> indicates that countries that had more human rights protections in place before the pandemic saw, on average, smaller decreases in rights violations in 2020 than countries that did not have as many protections. We believe adopting policies and practices that protect human rights during calmer times appears to help countries weather the storm during crises like a global health pandemic.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 150,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Bagwell is affiliated with the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, a global consortium of human rights scholars and practitioners who aim to provide accurate and comprehensive indicators of human rights respect around the world.</span></em></p>All of the 39 countries human rights experts tracked in 2020 experienced a decline in human rights. It’s not yet clear whether countries will quickly bounce back as the pandemic eases.Stephen Bagwell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1664432021-08-24T14:17:52Z2021-08-24T14:17:52ZHow poverty and violence are linked with anxiety in young South Africans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417205/original/file-20210820-17-1oghqnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young people living in urban informal settlement are exposed to high levels of violence and poverty. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past 10 years there has been increasing awareness of the importance of promoting good mental health in <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC189311">South Africa</a>. Most of the mental health awareness campaigns have been around <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/world-health-day-2017-16-nov-2016-1003">depression</a>, suicidal thoughts and suicide, and <a href="https://www.safmh.org/speak-your-mind-campaign/">alcohol abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Important and often overlooked forms of poor mental health are anxiety disorders. The most recent estimates of anxiety disorders in South Africa are from a 2009 nationally representative <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/samj/article/view/50764">study</a>. Anxiety disorders were the most common form of poor mental health reported by South Africans in the research. More than 8% reported anxiety disorder in the past year. Anxiety disorders include agoraphobia, which is the fear of places or situations that may cause embarrassment, as well as panic attacks. A broader form of anxiety is generalised anxiety disorder. It manifests itself as ongoing generalised worry. </p>
<p>This worry can be about many things – from money to how to provide for children and hopes for the future. Such generalised anxiety is associated with increased <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/1107248">substance misuse</a>, greater risk of acquiring HIV, as well as <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/481732">other mental health disorders</a>. It may also reduce people’s economic well-being through limiting their ability to look for work, or go out and work.</p>
<p>Studies <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6522/eaay0214.abstract">globally</a> have broadly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032715302330">identified</a> two main structural drivers of anxiety: poverty and violence.</p>
<p>In South Africa <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12075">half of adults</a> are living below the poverty line, defined as earning an income of less than R1,183 per month. Similarly, experiences of violence in childhood and later life are common. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214109X18300603">study</a> among 15-17-year olds found that 10% of boys and 15% of girls had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence and injuries are the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60948-X/fulltext">second leading cause</a> of lost disability-adjusted life years in South Africa. </p>
<p>Yet the challenges of poverty, violence and chronic stress experienced by many South Africans daily and for many years are not uniform. Young people, particularly those living in the challenging contexts of urban informal settlements, may be more at risk of experiencing generalised anxiety disorder. This is because poverty and community violence are more common in these spaces than in other communities. </p>
<p>Few studies look at anxiety. But it remains the most common form of mental health disorder in South Africa.</p>
<p>Understanding the causes is important for starting to understand how to address generalised anxiety disorders. In our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560321000104">recent research</a> we spoke to young people living in informal settlements in eThekwini Municipality, in KwaZulu-Natal. We asked them about their symptoms of anxiety, as well as potential risk factors for anxiety. These included abuse in childhood, interpersonal violence, food insecurity and stress related to poverty.</p>
<p>Symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder were higher in respondents who reported experiencing particularly extreme levels of poverty and experiencing violence. Addressing these two factors is critical for reducing poor mental health and its future impacts on individuals and potentially their children. </p>
<h2>Anxiety in urban informal settlements</h2>
<p>Our study was conducted in 2018. The study participants were young women and men (ages 18-30) who were already part of an intervention trial called <a href="https://www.whatworks.co.za/global-programme-projects/stepping-stones-and-creating-futures-south-africa">Stepping Stones and Creating Futures</a>. This intervention was run by the South African Medical Research Council and Project Empower, and sought to reduce poverty and violence among young people living in urban informal settlements.</p>
<p>We asked the respondents (488 women and 505 men) about their own experiences of symptoms related to generalised anxiety disorder. These are symptoms such as feeling nervous, not being able to stop worrying and being restless. In our study we found a high rate of women and men reporting moderate or severe symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder – 18.6% and 19.6%, respectively – as assessed through <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/410326">seven questions</a> which comprised the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 Scale. </p>
<p>We asked women and men a range of questions about their experiences of poverty, violence and stress. We also looked at multiple potential risk factors for anxiety. Women with more severe symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder, as compared to those with few symptoms, were more likely to have stolen because of hunger in the past month, and be stressed about lack of work. They were also likely to have experienced more adverse events such as witnessing the death of someone or being robbed at knife or gunpoint, and to have experienced violence from a partner in the past year.</p>
<p>For men, a similar pattern to women was seen. More severe generalised anxiety disorder symptoms were associated with poverty and experience of violence. Specifically, men with more anxiety symptoms, as compared to those with fewer symptoms, had stolen in the past month because of hunger, reported more adverse experiences as children, and had more adverse experiences in adulthood. </p>
<h2>Addressing anxiety in South Africa</h2>
<p>Our findings show how poverty, experiences of violence and adverse events are key contributing factors for generalised anxiety disorder among young people living in urban informal settlements.</p>
<p>South Africa must address the wider structural drivers of poor mental health, specifically poverty, unemployment and violence. It is the only way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and specifically Goal 3.4, which emphasises the need to promote mental health and well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166443/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Gibbs receives funding from UK Research and Innovation project MR/T029803/1. The original data were collected as part of a DfID funded programme: What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls? Global Programme. Both were managed by the South African Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Smanga Mkhwanazi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Young people living in the challenging contexts of urban informal settlements may be more at risk of experiencing generalised anxiety disorder.Andrew Gibbs, Senior specialist scientist: Gender and Health Research Unit, Medical Research Council, South African Medical Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1649142021-08-24T12:18:02Z2021-08-24T12:18:02ZStudents from struggling economic backgrounds sent home with food for the weekend have improved test scores, study finds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416352/original/file-20210816-28-1b908yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C0%2C4380%2C2673&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the United States, at least 6 million children live in a household where at least one person is food insecure. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/child-is-handed-a-free-meal-prepared-by-the-cetronia-news-photo/1158414510?adppopup=true">Anna-Rose Gassot/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When food banks work with schools to send children home with a backpack full of food over the weekend, they do better on reading and math tests, I found in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102040">recent study</a>. These effects are strongest for younger and low-performing students.</p>
<p>In the peer-reviewed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102040">study</a> published in December 2020, my co-authors – <a href="https://paulcollege.unh.edu/person/karen-conway">Karen Conway</a> and <a href="https://paulcollege.unh.edu/person/robert-mohr">Robert Mohr</a> – and <a href="https://www.lycoming.edu/profile/faculty/kurtzMichael.aspx">I</a> explored how weekend feeding programs, also known as “backpack” programs, affected end-of-grade tests in reading and math for third, fourth and fifth graders in North Carolina. These types of programs began independently in 1995 in a single school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since then, Feeding America – a national network of food banks – has created its <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/backpack-program">BackPack Program</a> to help students “get the nutritious and easy-to-prepare food they need to get enough to eat on the weekends.” The program now <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/backpack-program">serves more than 450,000 students annually</a>. </p>
<p>Each Friday, students enrolled in the program are given a bag of mostly nonperishable food at school to help nourish them through the weekend. The packs typically consist of grains, fruits and vegetables, some sort of protein and milk. </p>
<p>We used BackPack Program data from a Feeding America food bank in North Carolina and student data from the state. This allowed us to compare how economically disadvantaged students – those most likely to enroll in the program – performed on math and reading tests before and after the program was adopted at their school.</p>
<p>We then compared this with the performance of all other students at the same school and with that of economically disadvantaged students at schools that had a similar percentage of economically disadvantaged students but nevertheless did not participate in the BackPack Program. </p>
<p>Our analysis shows economically disadvantaged students at schools that adopt a BackPack Program improve their reading and math scores by an amount similar to that of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21759">students at schools</a> that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.12.003">adopted a school breakfast program</a>.</p>
<p>Adoption of a BackPack Program appears to shrink the gap in test scores between economically disadvantaged and advantaged students by about 15%. We also show the program is more effective for the youngest students in our study – third graders – and for students with the lowest test scores. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Weekend feeding programs fill a gap in many economically disadvantaged students’ nutritional needs between school lunch on Friday and school breakfast on Monday. In the United States, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504067">6 million</a> children live in a household where at least one child is food insecure. Approximately <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504067">540,000</a> of those live in households that report very low food security – that is, where children are not eating or not eating enough because there was not enough money for food.</p>
<p>Local food banks operated by Feeding America work with schools and community members to identify the most needy students and make sure they have enough food for the weekend.</p>
<p>The food bank is able to provide these food packs at a cost of approximately US$5 per student per week. This suggests the program is a cost-effective way to decrease hunger and improve academic outcomes.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>There are many different kinds of weekend feeding programs with different goals, funding and community support. They may have different criteria for who can participate. The food packs may be distributed differently or contain different amounts or types of food. Some programs <a href="https://outofthegardenproject.org/programs/operation-backpack/">target the entire family</a> rather than a single student. Some organizations may actively seek out partnership with certain schools. Others may wait for motivated administrators or community members to initiate the program. It is not yet known how the effect of weekend feeding programs may be different under these varied circumstances or in different areas of the country.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>My co-authors and I have begun work on understanding the factors that lead a particular school to adopt a BackPack Program in the first place. We think that understanding how the program spreads will help researchers better understand the effect of the program itself.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Kurtz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When kids have enough food to eat over the weekend, they do better in reading and math, a December 2020 study finds.Michael Kurtz, Associate Professor of Economics, Lycoming CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1565842021-03-15T18:57:18Z2021-03-15T18:57:18Z‘God, I miss fruit!’ 40% of students at Australian universities may be going without food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389214/original/file-20210312-24-10sa9zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5734%2C3837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/women-choosing-dairy-products-supermarket-1087874396">Naty.M/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic led to <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/food-insecurity-australia-what-it-who-experiences-it-and-how-can-child">food insecurity</a> among students <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/datablog/ng-interactive/2020/apr/23/australian-job-loss-tracker-employment-unemployment-numbers-industries-places-most-affected-coronavirus-crisis">making headlines</a> in Australia and the United States. But even before the pandemic, increasing numbers of students were reporting they sometimes went without food. Rising tuition and living costs combined with declining state support for students and privatised food outlets on campuses have increased students’ food insecurity in places as diverse as the <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/napa.12108">US</a>, <a href="http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12782/1/48_01_15.pdf">Malaysia</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0379572119826464">Nigeria</a>.</p>
<p>Student food insecurity is a particular problem in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/datablog/ng-interactive/2020/apr/23/australian-job-loss-tracker-employment-unemployment-numbers-industries-places-most-affected-coronavirus-crisis">Australia</a>. The reasons include the <a href="https://monitor.icef.com/2019/11/australian-international-student-enrolments-up-11-through-september-2019/">high proportion of international students</a>, lack of cheap subsidised food on many university campuses, and low awareness of the issue. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-one-would-even-know-if-i-had-died-in-my-room-coronavirus-leaves-international-students-in-dire-straits-144128">'No one would even know if I had died in my room': coronavirus leaves international students in dire straits</a>
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<p>In the early 2010s, <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61769/2/61769.pdf">research</a> in Queensland suggested one in four students (25%) suffered from food insecurity. More recent studies suggest the proportion could be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31861750/">over 40%</a>.</p>
<p>The problem nevertheless remains largely hidden, a <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/napa.12108?saml_referrer">“faceless” and “silent”</a> issue. When it does come up in conversation, it is often normalised – with jokes about “starving students”, for example.</p>
<h2>What did students say about it?</h2>
<p>We are concerned about the silence on this issue. We have been working to understand food insecurity among University of Melbourne students.</p>
<p>Most studies on university student food insecurity have been quantitative. We chose a more qualitative, interview-based approach. This involved co-producing the research with students.</p>
<p>We recruited four students as co-researchers who themselves had experienced food insecurity. These four students interviewed an additional 40 students who had experienced food insecurity. They were given supermarket vouchers in exchange for their time.</p>
<p>Our project showed many students at the university are experiencing food insecurity. The problem is worst among international students. </p>
<p>Some students said they had to skip meals. More commonly, students reported a lack of money, time and information meant having to compromise the diversity and nutritional quality of their diets. When asked about food insecurity, one student exclaimed: “God, I miss fruit!” Another said: “You can’t live on instant noodles for three years”.</p>
<p>Several students said they were vegetarians “by necessity rather than choice”. Some referred to intermittent fasting as a strategy. Others mentioned they lost weight after enrolling at university.</p>
<p>In many cases, COVID-19 added to the problem. </p>
<p>However, some students said it had actually become easier to get food because of the food relief measures and increased Centrelink payments during the pandemic. Students particularly praised the <a href="https://qvm.com.au/news/our-shout-food-voucher-program/">voucher scheme</a> for international students to obtain food from Queen Victoria Market. Some students also voiced appreciation for the university’s <a href="https://students.unimelb.edu.au/student-support/health-and-wellbeing/free-meal-packs-for-students">free cooked meals</a>, a program developed during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Food insecurity has many knock-on effects. Our research pointed to close relationships between food insecurity and physical and/or mental ill health, poor performance in studies, and difficulties navigating social relationships on campus. Shame associated with food insecurity was an especially notable issue.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hunger-in-the-lucky-country-charities-step-in-where-government-fails-90017">Hunger in the lucky country – charities step in where government fails</a>
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</em>
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<p>One of our goals was to show that students aren’t passive in response to food insecurity. They are active agents who seek to resolve the problem on multiple levels. </p>
<p>Our interviews richly illustrated students’ capacity to “hustle” for food on campus. For example, they sought out events that provided food. Some told of “surfing” the campus in search of barbecues providing free sausages.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="students look at sausages being barbecued" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389197/original/file-20210312-19-1s2hez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students have learnt to make the most of the free sausage sizzles offered by various groups on campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/UQSSS/photos/a.1736802033049805/3489003417829649/">UQ Singapore Students' Society/Facebook</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Students also told us how their experience of food insecurity had led them to reflect on the politics of food more broadly. They talked about their right to move away from being victims of food insecurity to being citizen agents, with rights to shape the conditions of production, distribution and consumption of food.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-had-a-taste-of-disrupted-food-supplies-here-are-5-ways-we-can-avoid-a-repeat-135822">We've had a taste of disrupted food supplies – here are 5 ways we can avoid a repeat</a>
</strong>
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<p>The sense of care and responsibility that students felt for each other was clear. Especially evident was a sense of obligation among domestic students to help international students.</p>
<h2>Time for a more ambitious approach?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hunger-campus-fight-against-student-food-insecurity-n1063291">In North America</a>, universities and governments have often acknowledged and addressed food insecurity. However, universities have tended to concentrate on providing emergency assistance – setting up <a href="https://thecounter.org/college-food-pantries-rising-food-insecurity-covid-19-coronavirus/">food pantries</a>, for example. </p>
<p>This approach has at at least two drawbacks. It risks stigmatising students and doesn’t provide access to fresh food, since most pantries contain only non-perishable items. A notable exception is the <a href="https://fsnep.ucdavis.edu/">CalFresh</a> program at the University of California.</p>
<p>There are some promising examples in Australia of thinking creatively about food security in particular, and food more generally, such as <a href="https://www.secondbite.org/">Second Bite</a> and the <a href="http://nourishnetwork.org/">Nourish Network</a>. Universities have been especially active during the pandemic in developing new schemes. </p>
<p>Students have also been active. They have, for example, helped develop food co-operatives, free breakfasts, food banks and initiatives such as the student-run <a href="https://fairfoodchallenge.com/">Fair Food Challenge</a> aimed at improving campus food systems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="university students at a fresh produce market stall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389210/original/file-20210312-21-1ptb617.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Flinders University, a community market provides free fruit and vegetables and low-cost pantry items.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/student-health-and-well-being/2021/01/12/oasis-community-food-market-is-back-for-the-summer-break/">Flinders University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to think more ambitiously about how to counter hunger on campus. Our research suggests students are keen to build on existing efforts in at least four ways:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>think creatively about how universities might draw on the excellent work done in the mental health area as a way of destigmatising food insecurity</p></li>
<li><p>reflect on whether university policy of inviting large numbers of private providers to occupy food spaces on campuses might be balanced with initiatives to provide nutritious subsidised food, perhaps revisiting the traditional idea of the university canteen</p></li>
<li><p>universities could do more to reduce food waste</p></li>
<li><p>since many universities have agriculture departments and diverse landholdings they might try to link students’ consumption with ethically produced, local and nutritious food on university farms.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Students can and must be central to all these changes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-simulated-mars-mission-taught-me-about-food-waste-132010">What a simulated Mars mission taught me about food waste</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><em>We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Rafaela Anja, Louisa Ellis, Sara Guest, Sophie Lamond, Aasha Sriram, Mia Zentari and Eugenia Zoubtchenko in carrying out the research upon which this article is based and preparing this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Jeffrey received funding to conduct research on student food insecurity from the Student Services Amenities Fund at the University of Melbourne and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Covid Research Grant scheme. The University of Melbourne's Melbourne Social Equity Institute also supported this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gyorgy Scrinis received funding to conduct research on student food insecurity from the Student Services Amenities Fund at the University of Melbourne and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Covid Research Grant scheme. The University of Melbourne's Melbourne Social Equity Institute also supported this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Dyson received funding to conduct research on student food insecurity from the Student Services Amenities Fund at the University of Melbourne and the US Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Covid Research Grant Scheme. The University of Melbourne's Melbourne Social Equity Institute also supported this research. </span></em></p>Food insecurity affected many students even before the pandemic hit, with international students the worst hit. But students and universities have shown a lot can be done to end the problem.Craig Jeffrey, Professor of Geography, The University of MelbourneGyorgy Scrinis, Associate Professor of Food Politics and Policy, The University of MelbourneJane Dyson, Associate Professor in Social Geography & Development Geography, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1530292021-02-02T13:11:48Z2021-02-02T13:11:48ZThe Biden administration can eliminate food insecurity in the United States – here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380922/original/file-20210127-17-o9geun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C3%2C2551%2C1699&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will President Biden achieve something no other president has: an end to food insecurity?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-elect-joe-biden-helps-volunteers-fill-food-news-photo/1297059042?adppopup=true">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Biden administration faces many challenges, some of which may prove to be intractable. But in one key area affecting tens of millions of Americans, it is well-positioned to attain a truly monumental achievement – the near total elimination of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppx058">food insecurity in the U.S</a>.</p>
<p>This may at first glance seem a little far-fetched. After all, despite numerous efforts from the administration of John F. Kennedy through that of Donald Trump, the achievement of a hunger-free American has been elusive.</p>
<p>But as someone who has spent over 25 years investigating the <a href="https://ace.illinois.edu/directory/cggunder">causes and consequences of food insecurity</a>, I know that this is a relatively straightforward problem to fix with the right political will. Importantly, the Biden administration has inherited a food ecosystem and social safety net that has the potential to make it possible with only a few relatively minor – albeit not inexpensive – changes to the system. </p>
<p>What is at stake could be transformative for millions of American families. By sharply reducing food insecurity – <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx">defined by the U.S. government</a> as “the uncertainty of having, or unable to acquire, enough food due to insufficient money or other resources” – the Biden administration would be ensuring that all Americans have the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aaz040">right to food</a> and tackle what is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.116.243642">leading indicator of well-being</a>.</p>
<p>The extent of the problem is large – <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx">more than 35 million Americans</a> lived in food-insecure households in 2019, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13100">a higher number projected</a> due to COVID-19.</p>
<p><iframe id="Kneyc" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Kneyc/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Food insecurity <a href="http://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645">increases the risk of many health issues</a>, including diabetes, depression and poorer general health – all of which lead to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2019/18_0549.htm">dramatically higher health care costs</a>. </p>
<p>But the extent of food insecurity and the consequences would be far higher were it not for two salient characteristics of the U.S. food economy, which could be leveraged to nearly eliminate food insecurity.</p>
<h2>Agricultural supply chain</h2>
<p>The United States has an agricultural supply chain that, I believe, serves as a model to the rest of the world. This manifests itself in the astounding variety of food that comes from farmers and food manufacturers from the U.S. and around the world on our supermarket shelves and in our restaurants. Some of this food is, of course, quite high-priced, and other items are not particularly nutritious. But America’s food retail outlets are generally filled with safe and nutritious <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-prices-and-spending/">food that is low-priced</a>.</p>
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<img alt="People taking free food from a community refrigerator." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380925/original/file-20210127-19-16x3mms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Food insecurity has risen as a result of the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/theotis-stacy-64-and-junior-romes-23-take-free-food-from-a-news-photo/1228197919?adppopup=true">Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The existence of these readily accessible food stores across our country has led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppy023">substantially lower</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppt024">food insecurity rates</a> than in <a href="https://commodity.com/blog/food-prices/">countries with higher food prices</a> such as the Netherlands, Denmark, South Korea and Taiwan.</p>
<p>During the pandemic, this agricultural <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/food-supply-chain-resilience">supply chain remained intact</a> as evidenced by food prices remaining low and our shelves full. In short, the nation doesn’t have to redesign its food system to alleviate food insecurity. </p>
<h2>Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</h2>
<p>The most critical component of the social safety net against food insecurity in the U.S. is the <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a> (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. For <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK206907">almost 60 years</a>, this program has served tens of millions of Americans who have nowhere else to turn during their times of need.</p>
<p>SNAP’s success in alleviating food insecurity has been demonstrated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aax026">in study</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-016-1191-4">after study</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22093">after study</a>. Research has shown that SNAP recipients are up to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00181-016-1191-4">30% less likely</a> to be food-insecure than people who are eligible but don’t get these benefits.</p>
<p>Households are eligible for SNAP if they <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/a-quick-guide-to-snap-eligibility-and-benefits">satisfy three criteria</a>: Their overall income must be less than 130% of the poverty line, although it can be higher in some states; this income after deductions cannot exceed the poverty line; and their total assets, not including the value of a home, cannot exceed US$2,250 – although this test is waived in most states and set at a higher rate in others.</p>
<p>Those who get SNAP benefits receive an electronic benefit transfer card that they can use at over 250,000 supermarkets and other <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer-locator">retail food outlets in the U.S</a>. The amount they receive is usually inversely related to their net income.</p>
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<p>With SNAP, the Biden administration has at its disposal what is the quintessential example of a successful government program – it sets out to alleviate hunger, and to a degree it succeeds. But it doesn’t pull everyone out from food insecurity despite its size and success. </p>
<h2>To a hunger-free America?</h2>
<p>These two realities – a robust and sustainable food supply chain and a government program designed to reduce food insecurity – provide the bedrock upon which a concerted effort to end food insecurity in the U.S. can be built. There are three steps the Biden administration can take to build on this platform.</p>
<p>First, the government can increase the maximum SNAP benefits.</p>
<p>As others and myself <a href="http://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2018.4.2.06">have previously shown</a>, an increase of roughly $160 per month in the maximum benefit would lead to an over 60% drop in food insecurity among SNAP recipients. Biden has announced an increase to the maximum benefit level of 15% in response to the COVID-19 crisis. While this is a good idea during a pandemic-induced economic downturn, the same arguments for higher benefits also hold, I believe, outside of this time of crisis.</p>
<p>Eligibility for SNAP could be expanded as a second step.</p>
<p>Millions of Americans have incomes that are too high to get these benefits. For example, one in four of those who are designated near-eligible for SNAP – that is, with household incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty line – <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/99282/err-275.pdf?v=9004.7">are food-insecure</a>.</p>
<p>By increasing the gross income threshold to 200% of the poverty line, raising the net income threshold to 130% of the poverty line and setting the asset test at $25,000, the Biden administration could move millions of Americans to food security who currently fall through the social safety net. The total cost, according to my estimate, would be in the region of $70 billion. </p>
<p>Third, the Biden administration will need to protect the agricultural supply chain underpinning these potential gains so that it can continue to produce affordable food. Of particular note, they need to consider any trade-offs that exist between meeting environmental goals and food prices. For many Americans, the potential price increases can be borne and are perhaps worth paying for if they lead to improved environmental conditions. But for those who are facing economic hardship, higher prices would lead to more food insecurity.</p>
<p>I believe the Biden administration, in constructing its new environmental policies, should take care that any cost to low-income Americans is not too excessive. One solution could be to find ways to compensate people for any resulting higher prices. Again, this could be achieved through increased SNAP benefits.</p>
<p>The tools to nearly eliminate food insecurity in the U.S. are at the disposal of the Biden administration. If it takes up these tools, it would constitute a truly monumental achievement.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Gundersen consults for Feeding America which has the goal of eliminating hunger in the U.S.</span></em></p>The United States has a robust food supply chain and a social safety net in place that could, if fully utilized, nearly eliminate hunger within its borders.Craig Gundersen, Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1372292020-05-11T19:48:24Z2020-05-11T19:48:24ZWhat Canada knows about food crises can help prevent shortages and protect workers during coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331852/original/file-20200430-42942-fqt5n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=112%2C479%2C3779%2C2482&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Food is a measure of how countries respond to crises from access to pricing to shortages.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(nrd/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As news of the pandemic began circulating, Canadians hurried to grocery stores, laying in supplies for the upcoming crisis. By mid-March, experts had begun warning <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6688655/coroanvirus-canadians-food-shortages/">against hoarding</a>. There is plenty of food in our supply chain, they said; do not “panic buy” lest we create shortages — and very real hardships — for vulnerable members of our communities. </p>
<p>As an historian of Canadian food, I am alarmed to see how pressures for productivity <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6856544/bc-coronavirus-outbreak-poultry-plant/">have endangered</a> — and in some cases <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-alberta-covid-19-deena-hinshaw-1.5537377">tragically taken</a> — the lives of food workers. These tragedies are preventable and untenable. And there is historical precedent for strong government intervention in our food marketplace.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332557/original/file-20200504-83745-1ivecse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food stability and security are influenced by histories of colonialism and a history of governments exerting control over foodways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>They brought their foods</h2>
<p>The greatest crisis affecting Canadian food history started about 400 years ago: the <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/019373ar">colonization of Indigenous food</a>. Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have <a href="https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/Traditional_Food_Fact_Sheets.pdf">practised sustainable food production, distribution and consumption</a>. </p>
<p>When Europeans arrived, however, they brought their foods with them. By Confederation, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/edible-histories-cultural-politics-4">English</a> and <a href="https://www.septentrion.qc.ca/catalogue/a-table-en-nouvelle-france">French</a> Canadians were transposing their preferences for beef, pork, sugar and wheat upon the northern American landscape. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-unequal-health-system-may-make-remote-indigenous-communities-more-vulnerable-to-the-coronavirus-134963">Canada's unequal health system may make remote Indigenous communities more vulnerable to the coronavirus</a>
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<p>As settlement increased, a battery of measures meant that Indigenous peoples faced <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1033506ar">increased barriers</a> to their own food. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1033506ar">Reserves</a>, the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pass-system-in-canada">pass system</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/B07-020">residential schools</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404373">forced resettlement</a>, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/history/american-history-general-interest/pemmican-empire-food-trade-and-last-bison-hunts-north-american-plains-17801882?format=HB&isbn=9781107044906">species extinction</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-013-9591-y">habitat loss</a> have been especially harmful. </p>
<p>On the plains, for example, the extinction of wild bison in the 1870s dealt a severe blow to individual and <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/medicine-that-walks-3">community health</a>. Simultaneously, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald’s determination to push a railway through to the Pacific Ocean, together with his plan to fill the plains with European wheat farmers, spurred his government to enforce settlement on reserves, including through <a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains2">forcible removals</a>. Such actions were heinous. They also barred access to traditional animal and plant food.</p>
<p>Well into the 20th century, the food available to Indigenous peoples through rations and residential schools was carbohydrate-heavy and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2013.828722">devoid of most nutrients</a>. It was often also rancid. To this day, Indigenous people are three times more likely than non-Indigenous people to face <a href="https://anishinabeknews.ca/2020/01/09/new-study-finds-first-nations-in-canada-face-serious-problems-with-food-supply/">food insecurity</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334160/original/file-20200511-49584-omqfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous food remains a sustainable and viable way fo producing food as documented by authors Dolly and Annie Watts of the Liliget Feast House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.annielwatts.com/wpf.htm">Annie Watts/Arsenal Pulp Press</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>State control of Canadian food</h2>
<p>The effects of colonization show how state oppression has created and maintained food insecurity. It is, in fact, instructive to compare the difference between how the Canadian state has treated Indigenous people’s access to food, on the one hand, and British and Euro-Canadians’ access, on the other. </p>
<p>During the First and Second World Wars, the Canadian government moved to protect the food supply. During the First World War, Britain called upon its empire to increase shipments of beef, pork, butter, sugar and flour to the mother country. </p>
<p>In response, (and as <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/purchasing-power-2">I demonstrate in my recent book</a>) — Canada stepped up production of these goods. It also introduced 28 orders-in-council that regulated meat, dairy, sugar and wheat consumption. At no time did Canada introduce rationing during this war; instead it urged compliance through propaganda, fines and jail sentences. </p>
<p>Things were different the next war. Having witnessed skyrocketing inflation between 1917 and 1921, the federal government created <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wartime-prices-and-trade-board">the Wartime Prices and Trade Board (WPTB)</a> in 1939. </p>
<p>Designed to curb inflation, reduce shortages and secure supplies for overseas, the WPTB was an unprecedented intervention. In 1941, the WPTB introduced “<a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/food-will-win-the-war">comprehensive price, rent, and wage controls</a>.” The next year, it introduced rationing. To purchase meat, sugar, butter, preserves, tea and coffee, Canadians had to use ration coupons. </p>
<p>The last restrictions weren’t lifted until 1947. Even then, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/CHR.83.4.483">shoppers protested</a>. As soon as restrictions were removed, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/us/radical-housewives-2">prices rose</a>. </p>
<h2>What we can learn from the past</h2>
<p>Today’s problems differ from those of other times. Especially pressing are dangers affecting <a href="https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/covid-19-southwestern-ontario-outbreak-puts-migrant-farm-workers-in-spotlight/">agricultural</a>, <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/04/24/Alberta-Meat-Packers-COVID-Outbreak/">butchery</a> <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/essential-workers-talk-about-how-covid-19-affects-them-1.4883241">and grocery</a> workers. There are also important difficulties that food distributors encounter when retooling wholesale products <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/saputo-inc-sees-demand-shift-from-food-service-to-retail-amid-covid-19-pandemic-1.4869609">for retail</a>.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, other problems are familiar. Now more than ever, it is important to address how disruptions affect food insecurity. Some First Nations are already taking action against <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/adapting-to-coronavirus-how-b-c-first-nations-balance-food-security-and-conservation/">possible shortages</a>. Intermittent shortages in the retail sector — caused by supply disruption, increased consumer demand and decreased wholesale demand — also affect shoppers who cannot buy in bulk. Empty grocery shelves further affect those who shop infrequently in efforts to socially distance.</p>
<p>As Canadians experienced during the First World War, shortages often precipitate <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/purchasing-power-2">price hikes</a>. Already, Atlantic grocery distributors are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/atlantic-grocery-distributors-prices-rise-1.5534470">reporting changes to prices</a>. In the North, further inflation would be unconscionable, given that northerners already struggle with <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-unequal-health-system-may-make-remote-indigenous-communities-more-vulnerable-to-the-coronavirus-134963">outrageous prices</a>. </p>
<p>In the past, much finger-pointing accompanied price markups, with some arguing that profiteers deliberately raised prices and others suggesting that inflation was the inevitable <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/buying-happiness">result of disequilibrium</a>. </p>
<p>Whatever the causes of food instability, however, there are demonstrable viable solutions, in both the past and present. To this day, Indigenous food systems <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/resources-news/newsletters/1-indigenous-food-sovereignty">are equitable</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/indigenous-food-1.4294388">sustainable</a>. </p>
<p>During the Second World War, William Lyon Mackenzie King’s Liberal government’s interventions protected both producers and consumers. Its main instrument, the WPTB, also — and completely unintentionally — improved many <a href="https://wartimecanada.ca/essay/eating/food-home-front-during-second-world-war">people’s diets</a>. Restrictions kept prices affordable while rationing ensured greater availability. </p>
<p>It is time now to revisit how Canadians produce and distribute food. The twin spectres of food insecurity and fatal illness demand such consideration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donica Belisle receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>Food is essential to survival. It is also essential to identity. During times of national crisis like the coronavirus pandemic and in the historical landscape, food issues become prominent.Donica Belisle, Associate Professor of History, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1096482019-01-11T11:45:42Z2019-01-11T11:45:42ZMore solutions needed for campus hunger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253341/original/file-20190110-43525-1cq5z51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As many as half of America's college students face campus hunger.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-unhappy-see-empty-fridge-117362950?src=Hqk8wW7f4eyj3tUivdEL0A-1-5">Stokkete/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-95">new federal report</a> does a good job of explaining what many researchers have been saying for a decade – food insecurity among college students is a serious national problem.</p>
<p>As one University of California, Berkeley student revealed in an interview for a 2018 <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212267218306932">research article</a> I helped write: “Food is always on my mind: ‘Do I have enough money? Maybe I should skip a meal today so I can have enough food for dinner.‘”</p>
<p>However, when it comes to offering up solutions, the new report from the Government Accountability Office comes up short. </p>
<p>My experience as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0oxSme8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">one who has researched campus hunger</a> goes back to 2014, when colleagues and I conducted the first public university system wide survey of campus hunger. We found that over <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19320248.2017.1374901">40 percent</a> of University of California students – about half of all undergraduates and one out of every four graduate students – faced food insecurity. That is more than three times the national household rate of <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/90023/err-256.pdf?v=0">12 percent</a>. Food security is <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/">generally defined</a> as access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19320248.2017.1374901">findings on campus hunger</a> <a href="https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/best-practices/food-access-security/">have been replicated</a> in the University of California system, the California State University <a href="https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/basic-needs-initiative/Documents/BasicNeedsStudy_phaseII_withAccessibilityComments.pdf">system</a> and in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19320248.2018.1484316">colleges throughout the nation</a>.</p>
<h2>Effects of an empty stomach</h2>
<p>For those who are food secure, it might be easy to scoff at the notion that somehow college students can’t find enough to eat. The reality is hunger among college students has psychological impacts that affect student performance. For instance, in a 2018 study, colleagues and I found students experiencing food insecurity had a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1359105318783028">lower grade point average</a> than students not facing food insecurity.</p>
<p>Researchers and I also found that not having access to enough food at all times <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1359105318783028">increased a student’s risk</a> for poor mental health. This, in turn, increases their risk for lower grades.</p>
<p>So what does the latest federal report – released 10 years after the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19650961">first</a> study documenting hunger on campus – say about the problem and what should be done about it?</p>
<p>The new federal report states that from nine to over 50 percent of America’s college students face food insecurity. The report also reveals that of the two to three million students at-risk for food insecurity who were potentially eligible for participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – more commonly known as SNAP – only 43 percent were receiving those benefits.</p>
<h2>More solutions needed</h2>
<p>The report recommends that government administrators do more to make students aware of their potential eligibility for SNAP benefits. The low participation rate in SNAP may stem from lack of awareness of exemptions for eligibility. Or it could have to do with the stigma of receiving food assistance. Some organizations recommend campus-based initiatives to combat food insecurity in order to <a href="https://www.clasp.org/press-room/news-clips/food-insecurity-college-campuses">lessen the stigma</a> associated with receiving food assistance for students. </p>
<p>Will better SNAP guidance end student hunger? In my view as one who has been looking at this issue for some time, not entirely. </p>
<p>For example, college students cannot get SNAP benefits unless they meet certain criteria, such as working at least 20 hours a week and attending school full-time. This rule should perhaps be rethought in light of how <a href="https://www.byu.edu/hr/sites/default/files/effects_of_student_employment.pdf">difficult</a> it is to go to school full-time, keep up one’s grades and work more than 20 hours a week.</p>
<p>What else can we do to fix student hunger? Updating college student financial aid is one solution. For instance, the purchasing power of the Pell grant – a federal grant for low- to middle-income students – is at a <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/blog/2018-funding-bill-should-boost-pell-grants">40-year low</a>.</p>
<p>Another solution is to <a href="https://diverseeducation.com/article/83705/">extend</a> the Federal School Lunch Program, which could help pick up the slack for the lost purchasing power of the Pell grant.</p>
<p>In my view, more assistance should also be given to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/11/anxiety-depression-mental-health-graduate-school/576769/">graduate students</a>, who also face campus hunger but who were not mentioned in the new federal report.</p>
<p>Lastly, students must be better educated on things such as financial aid, personal budgeting and self-advocacy. At a time when the cost of going to college is becoming more difficult to cover, it’s more important than ever to help students succeed and be healthy so that they can lead future generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanna Martinez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new federal report on food insecurity on college campuses does a good job of laying out the scope of the problem but falls short when it comes to solutions.Suzanna Martinez, Academic Researcher, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/561002016-06-19T14:55:00Z2016-06-19T14:55:00ZSub-Saharan Africa has a long way to go before it cracks food insecurity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126316/original/image-20160613-17209-1a1nxxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Africa must adopt an integrated approach to effectively reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The richer and more developed countries become, the less likely they are to be food insecure. Governments in rapidly growing economies have more resources to dedicate to improving food security and nutrition. But this does not necessarily translate into food for all. For example, <a href="http://bit.ly/1r90gcT">just over a quarter</a> of South Africa’s population is food insecure – despite sufficient food being produced at the national level. </p>
<p>Food security refers to the availability of food that is nutritious and safe and a guaranteed ability to get food of good quality. But this means doing so without resorting to emergency food relief, scavenging, stealing or recourse to similar coping strategies. Food insecurity, on the other hand, exists when food is not easily accessible and households have difficulty securing adequate amounts.</p>
<p>Food insecurity leads to hunger and malnutrition. Hunger is defined as not having enough to eat to meet energy needs. Hunger can lead to malnutrition, but absence of hunger does not imply absence of malnutrition.</p>
<p>Malnutrition happens when a person’s diet does not provide adequate nutrients for growth and maintenance or when a person is not able to adequately utilise the food consumed due to illness. It encompasses undernutrition – being too thin, too short and having deficiencies from a lack of nutrients – and overnutrition, which includes being overweight and obese.</p>
<p>The highest food and nutrition insecurity in southern Africa was reported during 2008 and 2009 when the region experienced its most acute drought with more than 22 million people classified as food insecure. Although the absolute number of food insecure population is decreasing, the proportion of chronically food insecure population remains high.</p>
<p>Africa’s success in achieving long-term food and nutrition security will depend on several key national and regional drivers. These include committed political leadership and good governance, quality policies and strategies in the food and agricultural sector, a sound macro-economic environment, inclusive economic growth and increased economic integration. </p>
<h2>The need for an integrated approach</h2>
<p>According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the prevalence of undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa declined from 33% to 23% between <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4635e.pdf">1990/92 and 2014</a>. But in fact the total number of undernourished people increased during this period – from 175.7 million to 220 million. This was partly due to an expanding <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4635e.pdf">population</a>. </p>
<p>Economic growth and wealth is necessary to make progress in reducing poverty and hunger, especially in the face of an expanding population. </p>
<p>But governments need to do more than pursue economic growth. The key factor in ensuring food security is inclusive growth – growth that promotes access for everyone to food, assets and resources.</p>
<p>Governments need to adopt an integrated approach to effectively reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. They also need to implement a mix of complementary and comprehensive food security and nutrition policies and programmes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126323/original/image-20160613-29238-119rqr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Improved food security doesn’t always translate into food for all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Initiatives like the annual Africa Day of Food and Nutrition Security emphasise the challenges the continent faces. But it also focuses attention on what is being done to reduce hunger and poverty on the continent. According to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, major commitments have recently been made at regional level. These include: Africa’s Renewed Partnership to End Hunger by <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-au838e.pdf">2025</a> and the Zero Hunger Initiative for <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/righttofood/documents/news/140224_ecowas/leaflet_ecowas_en.pdf">West Africa</a>.</p>
<p>In South Africa, a national <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/37915_gon637.pdf">policy</a> on food security and nutrition seeks to provide an overarching guiding framework for the different strategies and programmes of government and civil society. </p>
<h2>Some successes</h2>
<p>These and other efforts are already bearing fruit. The proportion of undernourished people in developing regions has fallen by almost <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml3">half since 1990</a>. </p>
<p>West African countries have made significant progress by reducing the proportion of hungry people by <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/world/regional-overview-food-insecurity-africa-african-food-security-prospects-brighter-ever">60% in 2015</a> between 1990-92 and 2015. In doing so, they have achieved the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger.</p>
<p>East and southern African countries have also made some progress towards the the goals, but countries in Central Africa are lagging behind.</p>
<p>A total of 18 countries out of 40 considered in the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4635e.pdf">overview</a> of food security in sub-Saharan Africa have reached the hunger target. Another four are close. They are expected to achieve the target before 2020 if current trends persist. </p>
<p>Of the 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa considered in the report: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>seven achieved both the Millennium Development Goals and World Food Summit <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml">targets</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>11 reached the Millennium Development Goal target and made progress on meeting the summit targets; and </p></li>
<li><p>12 countries made some progress in achieving both. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>South Africa has made progress on at least six of the eight Millennium Development Goals. It has made progress on at least six of the eight goals according to the 2013 status <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/world/regional-overview-food-insecurity-africa-african-food-security-prospects-brighter-ever">report</a> and was on target to reach 60-80% implementation on both targets.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>The United Nations released the <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">Sustainable Development Goals</a> for implementation from 2016. Its targets are to be achieved by 2030. The second goal is to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture completely. This is more focused than the Millennium Development Goals which looked to reduce the <a href="https://advocacy.thp.org/2014/08/08/mdgs-to-sdgs/">number to 50%</a>.</p>
<p>Strategies to meet this goal emphasise investment and interventions in agriculture to ensure sustainable food resources. </p>
<p>Given the current drought in South Africa – and the accelerating consequences of climate change on the environment – reaching this goal may be difficult. The consequence will be ongoing food insecurity, including poor nutrition and the poor health status that results from a lack of food resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are a number of efforts on the African continent aimed at helping people overcome food insecurity. Even though some progress has been made, the situation remains bleak.Xikombiso Mbhenyane, Professor and Head of Division Human Nutrition at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch UniversityIrene Labuschagne, Principle dietitian at the Nutrition Information Centre, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/485192015-10-12T04:22:15Z2015-10-12T04:22:15ZFood insecurity is a reality for millions of South Africans living in informal settlements<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97791/original/image-20151008-9679-1oks7um.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A young girl carries a bag of potatoes as she leaves a vegetable stall in Kliptown, Soweto.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Up to 70% of households in South Africa’s informal settlements skip meals or eat the same meal on most days. The breadwinners also regularly struggle to provide meals or worry about having no food or money to buy food.</p>
<p>And households with children are even more likely to face this dilemma of food insecurity. Our <a href="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/8927">research</a> found that the levels of food security remains significantly high in the country – despite it being a basic human right. </p>
<p>Although we conducted the <a href="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/8927">study</a> on a small community in Johannesburg, this is a reality for people who live in informal settlements across the country.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehda.co.za/uploads/files/HDA_South_Africa_Report_lr.pdf">Census data</a> in South Africa suggests there are 1.2 million households with 3.3 million people living in informal corrugated structures (shacks) which are not on the same property as formal brick houses. The country’s economic hub, Gauteng, has the second highest percentage of people living in shacks in the country. </p>
<p>In adults, food insecurity is linked to detrimental health outcomes such as obesity, chronic diseases and mental health disorders. In children, there is a link between food insecurity, stunting, poor development and decreased academic ability.</p>
<h2>The global goal around hunger</h2>
<p>The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation defines <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e00.htm">food security</a> as having access to enough food for an active and healthy life. This includes readily available, nutritionally adequate and safe foods. People should be able to get this food in socially acceptable ways. And to be food secure, one must also be free from worry or anxiety about having enough food for everyone living in a household.</p>
<p>Halving hunger in the world was the first of the eight anti-poverty millennium development goals, set in 2000. But <a href="http://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/c2cda20d-ebeb-4467-8a94-038087fe0f6e/">improvements</a> in food security have not happened fast enough or evenly across the world to have achieved this goal. </p>
<p>Between 2010 and 2012, 852 million people in developing countries did not have food security. Of these, 234 million lived in <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e00.htm">sub-Saharan Africa</a>. </p>
<p>In South Africa, several studies have assessed the degree and impact of food insecurity. Three national <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.089243">surveys</a> show that in the ten years to 2008, food insecurity halved. In urban areas, it dropped from 42% to about 20%. </p>
<p>But this trend did not remain for long. A 2009 <a href="http://www.afsun.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/AFSUN_12.pdf">study</a> in three impoverished communities in Johannesburg shows that just over half of the households surveyed did not have food security. Of these, 60% were in informal settlements. </p>
<p>There are many <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980013002048">reasons</a> for an increased risk of food insecurity. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>poverty; </p></li>
<li><p>lower levels of maternal education (primary school or none);</p></li>
<li><p>unemployment;</p></li>
<li><p>larger household size; and </p></li>
<li><p>households that experience events that place an added demand on their budgets. This could also be related to an unexpected illness with medical expenses or a sudden job loss.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Another factor is the increasing <a href="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/8927">trend</a> of people eating more cheap fast foods and less nutritious foods.</p>
<p>People cope with food insecurity by decreasing the variety of foods they eat, limiting their portion sizes, and eating cheaper fast foods. Research shows this negatively affects their <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2006.02.009">nutritional status</a>.</p>
<p>This inevitably results in under-nutrition or malnutrition, which is a lack of adequate micronutrients. Malnutrition is a major consequence of chronic food insecurity. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e00.htm">Globally</a>, more than 2.5 million children die each year from malnutrition because of food insecurity. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of underweight children and infants, with just over 24% recorded between 2010 and 2012. </p>
<p>Its child mortality rate is also high. About 41 children under the age of five die for every 1000 that are born.</p>
<p>In South Africa, the national surveys have shown that poor children have an inadequate diet. It does not meet <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.089243">nutritional requirements</a> and they eat a limited variety of foods. </p>
<p>Children who are undernourished are often underweight and suffer from stunting. Stunted undernourished children are at risk of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15630058">poor development</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.108.3.824b">decreased academic achievement</a>.</p>
<h2>How to solve the problem</h2>
<p>The Medical Research Council has provided vegetable seeds to participants and local non-governmental organisations to plant fruit trees in one of the study sites.</p>
<p>To fix the challenge of food insecurity in the short term, social grants may help to alleviate food insecurity to some extent because it will increase household income. </p>
<p>But in the medium and long term, solutions such as increased employment opportunities, education and female empowerment is required to significantly lessen the burden of food insecurity.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Medical Research Council conducts this study annually as part of its urban health program under the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Urban Health. It has been running for nine years. The study’s findings are fed back to the City of Johannesburg to take action.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nisha Naicker receives funding from the South African Medical Research Council and the Ford Foundation. The above funding was not related to this project.</span></em></p>Food insecurity plagues South Africa’s informal settlements, resulting in obesity, chronic diseases and mental health disorders in adults and stunting and poor development in children.Nisha Naicker, Senior Specialist Scientist, Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.