The fight for food

The current pandemic has intensified and made visible the invisible structural inequities in our food systems. Basic food shortages, price increases and the precariousness of jobs in the food and service sector such as restaurants, pubs, food courts and fast-food outlets, itinerant food vending, farmers’ markets, and artisanal food stall pop-ups will affect both men and women, of all ages and backgrounds across the world. However, women and black groups are faring worse. Dr Thulasizwe Mkhabela is an agricultural economist and is currently the Group Executive Impact & Partnerships at the Agricultural Research Council. He discusses this.