Rising food prices a challenge for low-income households
Food prices have increased by at least 9% in the past two months.
Julie Smith from the Pietermaritzburg Social Agency for Community Social Action has been speaking to Newswatch ahead of their release of this month's Food Price Barometer Report.
The report tracks the prices of more than 30 basic food items across a number of retail stores servicing particularly the lower-middle income market.
Smith says the figure is at least eight times higher than last year's average food increase of 0.5% to 2% month-to-month.
She predicts the situation is likely to get worse as the drought continues to impact local food production.
"What happens though unfortunately is because they often prioritise food last - it's the only aspect they can control. So they tend to cut down on food and that's got massive implications around health.
"In certain cases, there probably will have to be government intervention to ensure that basic food items can be bought," she said.
(File photo: Gallo Images)