In recent weeks, we’ve been overwhelmed by the sad news of children dying in SA’s townships due to consuming allegedly contaminated foods. From Soweto, Alexandra to KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast and other townships, similar incidents were recorded where children as young as six also lost their lives after consuming non-nutritious foods that were allegedly bought from local spaza shops, showcasing the dire food insecurity problem we have in the country.

The questions that were not asked as we all feared for the worst were: are children in SA getting the nutrition they should be getting at a young age? Are they desperately running to local spaza shops looking for a nutritious snack that couldn’t be provided at home?

This happens as the Grow Great Campaign is wrapping up plans to host the much-awaited Grow Great Stunting Summit, themed “Courageous Action to End Stunting”.

Stunting is a form of chronic malnutrition that affects the physical and cognitive development of millions of children, particularly during the first 1,000 days of life, which are crucial in the child’s development both physical and cognitive.

The summit will bring together community leaders, policymakers, ordinary citizens and experts to address the critical issue of child stunting in SA. We are ranked among the worst countries affected by stunting, and the situation is getting worse.

The Grow Great Stunting Summit seeks to ensure that stakeholders including ordinary citizens commit to actionable solutions and sustained efforts to end stunting and the impact that it has on our children. We encourage the masses to join us in this critical mission to secure a healthier future for our children. The summit will be held on November 14 at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.

Stunting remains a public health challenge in SA with the stunting rates having increased to a shocking 29%, meaning almost three out of 10 children in the country are stunted.

The lack of development in the early stages of life results in children struggling in school, leading right up to adulthood and increasing their chances of being unemployed.

The summit will feature Arno Bratz, a senior leader in food, nutrition security, market systems development and evaluation from Welthungerhilfe (WHH) – an international thought and practice leader in food system transformation for zero hunger and the largest German international NGO in humanitarian action and international co-operation.

The summit will also feature sessions that will look deeper into the problem of stunting in SA where experts will provide an overview of the stunting crisis, focusing on maternal health, exclusive breastfeeding and the impact of hunger and food prices on child nutrition.

Stunting is not just a health issue, it’s a social and economic crisis that affects our nation’s future. We must take courageous action now to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Grow Great executive director Dr Edzani Mphaphuli has emphasised that stunting is not just about children’s bodies and brains not growing well, it’s a social injustice and economic crisis that will affect our nation’s future. We must take courageous action now to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full genetic potential.

The right to sufficient food is enshrined in SA’s constitution, which also guarantees children the Right to basic nutrition.

Social protection mechanisms like the child support grant are not benefitting all who are eligible to receive the cash transfers. It is estimated that more than two-million children are not receiving the grant because of administrative barriers and lack of documentation. The monthly grant is also less than the amount it costs to meet a person’s minimum required energy needs, known as the Food Poverty Line.

In addition, the increasing retail price of staple items like maize meal and porridge has outpaced the growth of the national minimum wage. The result is that one in five households doesn’t have enough food on the table, 30 children are dying daily from malnutrition-related causes and a quarter of children under the age of five years are stunted.

This is another reason we are part of a campaign that is championing the proposed double-discounting of 10 budget-friendly food items. These foods were identified because they could provide high nutritional value at the lowest cost, especially for families living below the Food Poverty Line.

These items are eggs, dried beans, lentils, tinned fish, fortified maize meal, peanut butter, rice, amasi, soya mince and full cream milk – many are already staple pantry items in South African households.

We believe that if all of us make stunting a national priority, more campaigns and solutions could be adopted so that we don’t find our children looking for nutritious foods and snacks in spaza shops which aren’t ideal places to look for such.

* Maziya is head of communications at Grow Great Campaign