The ongoing war in Ukraine continues to impact negatively on the world with the threat of a global humanitarian crisis not far on the horizon.
The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has said that the consequences for the world of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are worsening. “The war’s impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe and spreading up for people around the world”, he said. He added that, “the war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake”.
In SA, the impact of the war has been devastating with rising costs of fuel and food exerting a heavy toll on poor communities with increased levels of poverty and hunger. The Covid-19 pandemic, last year’s July riots, the recent floods in KZN have added to the misery of poor and vulnerable communities.
According to the World Bank’s April 2022 Commodity Markets Outlook, the war has altered global patterns of trade, productivity and consumption of commodities in ways that will keep prices at historically high levels through the end of 2024 exacerbating food insecurity and inflation. Food insecurity refers generally to a lack of access to enough good, healthy and culturally appropriate food. It is manifest in low food security such as in cutting size of meals, cutting the frequency or skipping meals altogether.
Food insecurity can have a deleterious effect on sectors such as education when hunger becomes an impediment to learning. It is for this reason that the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) was established since 1994 to improve the ability of pupils to learn by combatting malnutrition, reducing hunger and improving school attendance. Through the programme, more than nine million pupils from poor schools in SA are fed nutritious meals every day at school.
However, NSNP research indicates that the intervention, though welcome, may not be enough to mitigate the damaging impact of the looming food insecurity on pupils. The importance of food is mostly overlooked as a factor that influences academic success, with concern more with pupil intelligence, teacher quality and other variables. Basic functions such as eating different meals and how they impact on our ability to function physically and intellectually are taken for granted. The reality is that the amount, availability, and quality of food all affect children’s health as well as their brain development.
Children who grow up in food insecure households often lag behind their food secure peers in terms of cognitive, emotional and physical development. Their social and emotional health is at risk through inadequate nourishment which can lead to behavioural issues that can affect their school lives negatively. Food insecurity also leads to an increase in mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Pupils can also be prevented from functioning normally in social settings due to poorer physical qualities of life. They also register smaller gains in reading and mathematics, and are more prone to missing school more frequently and likely to repeat grades. Their chances of graduating are reduced and they are likely to drop out of school and not fulfil their potential.
It is against this background that initiatives such as the NSNP should be retained and supported to enhance the learning capacities of pupils through the provision of a healthy meal at school. The programme has by and large contributed to improved rates of attendance and punctuality, concentration and general wellbeing of participating pupils. In addition, pupils are taught to establish and maintain good eating and lifestyle habits. Basic health is also incorporated into the curriculum with the aim to make every school a healthy school. Schools are also encouraged to establish food gardens where they can obtain fresh produce to supplement the menu and for self-empowerment.
Schools should also strive to teach pupils about measures to mitigate the food insecurity crisis. These include reducing food waste through the improvement of storage facilities. Food gardens can also bring food insecurity levels down while also reducing the risk of commercialisation of food.
In the longer term, education is the best weapon against poverty and hunger. This is because education means better opportunities and more access to income and food. More importantly, there is a need for social change with issues such as war, which pose a fundamental problem to ending global hunger. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a case in point with its worldwide devastating effects.
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