afrol News, 10 October - It was discovered that 50 percent of children in Africa's giant, South Africa, go to bed with hunger. This was contained in a 2004/5 pilot study conducted in the Greater Sekhukune District Municipality.

The study was carried out with assistance from specialised institutions and universities in South Africa. The government was concerned about food insecurity in the community of Sekhukune where 53 percent of skip meals mainly because of poverty.

"More than 50 percent of children ate less than they needed to, because of a shortage of food and 36 percent of children indicated that they sometimes went to bed hungry because of a lack of money to buy food," the South African agricultural ministry noted.

The government is not sitting on its laurel because it is doing its best to provided the much-needed advice as well as trying to make comparisons between different provinces and communities so as to allocate funds to the neediest ar areas.

And in its quest to better understand food security, hunger and vulnerability in South Africa, government developed what it called "Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Management System (FIVIMS) as a way of tackling the crisis.

The decision-making body of FIVIMS provides updated information on poverty and hunger and also analyses the underlying causes. It also investigates into how people access food through local production or purchases.

The government is also ready to build up a repository of reports and analytical capacity in government to better inform its planners and decision makers on food security interventions within needy communities in the country.

"The gathering of the information is done through the compilation of an inventory of existing information sources from Government Departments such as Education, Health, Social Development, Public Works, Water Affairs and Forestry and Provincial and Local Government," agricultural ministry said, adding that the inventory will contatin informatin regarding programmes such as schools feeding programme, integrated nutrition programme, among others.

The Greater Sekhukune District Municipality is renown as one of the poorest district municipalities of South Africa.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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