South Africa’s Shoprite Food Security Index improved to about 56.4–56.5 in 2024, up from 44.9 in 2023. It marks a turnaround from last year’s low, yet it remains below the 2019 level of 65.8. Researchers attribute the rise to easing food inflation, better diet diversity, and expanded school feeding schemes. Hunger, however, remains one of the country’s most urgent challenges.
Provinces and Households Under Pressure
Most provinces improved, except the Eastern Cape. The Free State recorded the weakest dietary diversity: 49.3% of respondents ate three or fewer food groups in the prior 24 hours. Female-headed households face higher food-insecurity risk, underscoring the uneven impact of rising costs and limited incomes.
Prices Drive Choices; Retailer Lists Interventions
Price remains the biggest influence on what families can afford to eat, Shoprite says. The retailer contained internal food inflation to 2.3% in its 2025 financial year, with more than 13,300 products cheaper than a year earlier. It also points to 21% private-label penetration, R55 billion in Xtra Savings since 2019 (R16.5 billion in 2025), and 27.7 million R5 bread loaves sold and subsidised in the past year. The Shoprite Food Security Index seeks to keep hunger in the national conversation and track progress annually.
Civil Society: Gains are Real, Relief is not
Advocacy groups welcome the uptick but warn it has not reached the poorest homes. Black Sash notes that grant-reliant families often bulk-buy cheaper calories instead of nutritious food. IEJ researchers say roughly one in four households lack consistent access to nutritious food, and many are female-headed. AIDC highlights the human toll, citing 155 child malnutrition deaths in six months this year. The message is clear: the Shoprite Food Security Index shows progress, but affordability and incomes remain the core barriers.
The Road Ahead
Shoprite frames the findings as cautious optimism and calls for business, government and civil society to work together. The Shoprite Food Security Index improved, but real relief hinges on sustained price restraint, better incomes, and targeted support where the need is greatest.
