Explaining the Normalisation of Black Hunger in South Africa

Not Enough Food, or Not Enough Empathy

Bibliographic Data

ID21540320
AuthorsStephen Devereux (0000-0002-4885-0085, University of Sussex, corresponding author), Kenechukwu Ikebuaku (0000-0001-6566-5394, University of the Western Cape)
Year2026
Volume65
Issue5
Pages1-23
Publication date2026-06-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEcology of Food and Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0367-0244 • E-ISSN: 1543-5237
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03670244.2026.2693925
PMID42365668
OpenAlexW7166442042
LanguageEN
References cited19

Millions of Black South Africans are food insecure and malnourished, 30+ years after the democratic transition to Black majority rule in 1994. Yet South Africa is an upper-middle-income country with sufficient food, a constitutional right to food, and comprehensive social protection. High levels of poverty and unemployment are key drivers of hunger, but this paper explores another plausible explanation: "normalisation." Citizens and the state have become desensitized to Black hunger, after centuries of White domination. Racially hierarchized wealth inequalities and wellbeing outcomes are so entrenched that empathy toward poor and hungry Black people has been undermined. To test these ideas, data collection was conducted in three provinces in 2023-24. A quantitative questionnaire was administered to 600 respondents, stratified by residence, ethnicity, gender, age and education. Qualitative interviews probed individual experiences and attitudes to hunger. This mixed methods research finds confirmatory evidence of normalization, but no evidence of empathy deficits

Consumption (sociology) · Perspective (graphical) · Poverty · Variety (cybernetics) · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · South African History and Culture

Tools

Open DOI