Ongoing drought conditions and a weak currency are hammering South Africa’s food producers, who are under pressure to keep prices low.<\/p>\n
According to a report by Bloomberg<\/a>, food companies may be forced to sacrifice profits in 2016 to preserve market share.<\/p>\n However, the price of food is still expected to shoot up by 10% by the middle of the year, increasing 25% by April 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n The price of white corn has doubled over the past month, and the price of wheat has risen by 25%, Bloomberg said.<\/p>\n Higher food prices will have a massive negative impact on the poor, who spend a bigger portion of their total income on food products.<\/p>\n According to data from the South Africa Institute of Race Relations, poor households spend a third (33.5%) of their income on food, compared to wealthier households which spend over a tenth (10.8%).<\/p>\n Overall, South Africans spend about a quarter (25.3%) of their total income on food.<\/p>\n In 2015, South Africa experienced its driest year in over a century, with a paltry 403mm of rain falling in the country.<\/p>\n These drought conditions, along with problematic economic policies and international market conditions in January caused a 30% slump in the rand, which has exacerbated the country’s food issues.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg, food companies have admitted that 2016 will be a tough year, but plans have been made to diversify enough to reduce the cost of manufacturing food and preserving profits.<\/p>\n South Africa recorded the driest year in over a century<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on food<\/h3>\n