The Just Transition in the Food System group—a network of organisations( including the Trust for Community Outreach and Education and the Rural Woman’s Assembly, ZA) working alongside smallholder farmers, farm workers, informal workers, trade unions, working class women, and civil society—has made a submission to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) National Inquiry into the Food Systems of South Africa.

Formed in 2023, the group advances a shared perspective: South Africa’s food system must be transformed to become environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient, create decent work and improved livelihoods, and fulfil the constitutional right to sufficient food. The submission draws on the group’s Civil Society Framework for a Food System Just Transition, grounded in principles of meeting human needs, ecological integrity, democratic participation, inclusion, and capacity-building.

Why this submission matters

South Africa faces severe hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, alongside a sufficient national food supply. The submission underscores persistent child stunting, “hidden hunger” (micronutrient deficiencies), and rising obesity linked to reliance on nutrient-poor, ultra-processed “poverty foods”. It welcomes the Inquiry’s focus on powerful actors in the food system, while raising concerns about accessibility and inclusivity, including the limited scope for provincial/local hearings and barriers created by written-only submission processes.

What the submission covers

Structured around the SAHRC Terms of Reference, the submission responds to all seven themes and introduces three additional themes—reflecting issues the group considers fundamental to how the food system operates and how it harms or protects rights:

Key themes and headline recommendations

1. Structural dynamics driving hunger despite food sufficiency

• Strengthen income support to realise the right to food (including increasing the child support grant and transitioning SRD toward a basic universal income).

• Actively regulate and steer food markets (pricing transparency, narrowing shelf–farmgate gaps, and other tools, including competition measures and strategic interventions).

• Support localised, agroecological food systems.

2. Concentration of power across food value chains

• Regulate corporate concentration—especially in processing and retail—and advance data justice.

• Shift toward democratic, participatory food system governance.

• Review and realign laws and policies across sectors around the right to food.

3. Land access, tenure security, and gendered exclusion

• Expand secure land access and strengthen protections for farm workers/dwellers and communal/commonage farmers.

• Prioritise women and youth for land access and tailored agricultural support.

4. Indivisibility of rights and local government duties

• Adopt a Right-to-Food Framework Act to clarify duties, coordination, and accountability.

• Integrate right-to-food considerations into environmental decision-making and municipal planning.

5. Indigenous knowledge and agroecology

• Support small-scale agroecological farming (inputs, extension, farmer-to-farmer learning) and enable stable markets through procurement and municipal infrastructure.

• Finalise and implement the National Agroecology Framework for South Africa and align laws/policies accordingly.

6. Systemic failure and fragmented governance

• Finalise and adopt a new National Food and Nutrition Security Plan and establish effective coordinating councils at national/provincial/district levels with resources and powers.

• Embed food and nutrition security responsibilities in local government mandates.

7. Civic participation and public accountability

• Recognise and include movements and civil society as organised rights-holders in food governance.

• Strengthen public accountability mechanisms and halt the privatisation of basic resources essential to the right to food.

Additional themes introduced by the group

8. Climate change and the food system: integrate the full food system into mitigation/adaptation planning; prioritise agroecology, soil restoration, and targeted adaptation support for small-scale farmers.

9. Gender as a cross-cutting vector: centre women’s land rights, participation, and inclusion across value chains and governance.

10. Child hunger and malnutrition: strengthen the child support grant, improve maternal/infant nutrition support, and evaluate and strengthen the NSNP with healthy, locally sourced agroecological foods.

Please read here: 2026.02.27-SAHRC-JTFS-group-submission-compiled_FINAL