Food | WWF South Africa

The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

Zimbabwe

Food

It's time to reconsider our food.

We all need nutritious food to survive. Yet, as temperatures rise, extreme weather events such as drought and floods affect the production of food. As the supply is affected, so is the price. In South Africa, half of our nation goes hungry on a regular basis.

Why does it matter?

What we eat comes directly from the environment. Yet food production has the greatest negative impact on the planet, more than any other human activity. To keep up with the growing demand, we will have to address the many absurdities, inadequacies and problematic practices in how our food is produced and what we consume.

While agriculture is a critical contributor to rural development and job creation and the GDP, the environmental impacts of farming are high. We need to promote responsible farming as well as responsible consumption.

Our farming practices and consumption patterns must protect the long-term maintenance of healthy landscapes, and the regeneration of our natural resource base such as our soils, water resources and energy options, while also ensuring profitable yields. This extends to ensuring the well-being of farmers and fishers, as well as local communities who rely on flowing rivers and nourished soil to survive and feed our nation.

Did you know?

One third of all food produced in South Africa, a total of 10 million tonnes of edible food, is wasted in every year.

What is WWF doing?

WWF demonstrates good stewardship of natural resources. We promote sustainable agriculture and sustainable fisheries. We do this by supporting best practice solutions on farms and along the seafood supply chain.

Both at land and at sea, we work with government and industry to restore and reconnect conservation-worthy natural areas and to reduce the environmental impacts from food production.

Featured project

Many smallholder farmers in South Africa's rural areas face high poverty, food insecurity, and land degradation. Urgent support is needed to help them adopt sustainable land use and production practices.