A new report finds that low income households are increasingly turning to loan sharks in order to pay for food for their families.<\/p>\n
The report, published by Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (Pacsa), found that income is not enough to buy enough food for a month, and not enough to cover all other essential\u00a0 household requirements.<\/p>\n
Shockingly, food typically ran out after 2 to 3 weeks, the 2015 Pacsa Food Price Barometer found.<\/p>\n
Low income households are under-spending on food by as much as 55.6%.<\/p>\n
Pacsa found that consistently across all focus groups, women said that it was becoming more of a struggle to afford the food their families needed.<\/p>\n
“They located this problem not only in food price increases but in the increased pressure of the cost of other essential goods and services.”<\/p>\n
This includes:<\/p>\n
The report said that families were being maintained \u2013 food on the table and kids schooled \u2013 through high level of household debt, the clever management thereof, stokvels, and “through savviness in knowing where to shop to get good prices”.<\/p>\n
“The gap between the bulk staples purchased once a month and the shortfall is taken up\u00a0 through credit which is rigorously managed from spaza shops, umashonisa (loan sharks), credit\u00a0 schemes (government and private) and mholiswane (interest\u00a0 free\u00a0 loans\u00a0 from\u00a0 friends and relatives).\u00a0 Stokvels are critical in this mix,” Pacsa said.<\/p>\n
That households are forced to take credit to buy food is indicative of the extent and seriousness of the affordability crisis, the report said. That food is a continuous expense however, having to take credit to buy food, traps households into a vortex of debt.<\/p>\n
“Women were telling us that they were absorbing the burden (because they simply had to) but that their situations were precarious, and they were increasingly vulnerable to shocks,” Pacsa said.<\/p>\n
The report also warned about the nutritional aspect for a low income vale, where a balanced diet has become a luxury.<\/p>\n
“Households are eating fewer varieties of foods and eating these same foods all the
\ntime.\u00a0 Women said the \u2018cheaper\u2019 food they were forced to buy was of poor quality and that they had noticed that these foods were deteriorating still further,” the report said.<\/p>\n
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