LISTEN: Increasing food prices hurting consumers' pockets
Households across South Africa are being pushed deeper into debt just to keep food on the table.
That's the finding of the
Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action.
Its report, released to coincide with World Food Day on Sunday (October 16), shows that food prices in the past year have been increasing above the inflation rate.
READ ALSO: Rising food prices a challenge for low-income households
The agency's Mervyn Abrahams
says drought conditions and the economic climate are contributing factors.
Abrahams says what's more frightening is that the increases have also extended to staple foods, with monthly groceries for lower-income households moving from R1 600 to R1 900.