AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION

The report examines South Africa's public health crisis driven by a transition toward low-nutrient, high-calorific diets, which contributes to a 'triple burden' of under-nutrition, over-nutrition, and micro-nutrient deficiencies. It argues that while government regulation is critical, the concentrated power of the industrial food sector presents an opportunity for collaborative action. Based on a global review and 46 interviews, the document proposes four 'opportunity spaces' for collaboration: creating healthy retail environments, establishing a manufacturer innovation group, engaging smallholder farmers and fresh produce markets, and implementing collaborative social marketing. Key barriers identified include intense industry competition, mistrust between business and NGOs, and conflicting business imperatives.

• South Africa faces a 'triple burden of malnutrition,' characterized by the simultaneous existence of under-nutrition (stunting and wasting), over-nutrition (overweight and obesity), and micro-nutrient deficiencies.
• Diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers, account for approximately 40% of deaths in South Africa.
• The South African food environment is dominated by large industrial food companies whose strategies to maximize profits have led to a high availability and affordability of unhealthy, processed-packaged foods.
• The industrialization of food value chains has caused a decline in small, informal, and local food networks, which previously provided greater resilience and better access to diverse, healthy whole-natural foods.
• Consumer food choices in South Africa are driven by a complex mix of affordability, availability, time, culture, and biological predispositions toward high-fat and high-sugar foods.
• Industry collaborations on health and nutrition globally often focus on promotional activities to maintain a free-choice retail environment and may be used to divert attention from more transformative policy measures.
• Significant barriers to effective collaboration in South Africa include the highly competitive nature of the food sector, concerns regarding collusion, and high levels of mistrust between NGOs and business entities.

APA

Hanks, J., Dixon, J., & Jenkin, T. (2018). AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION. WWF South Africa. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_an_appetite_for_collaboration_2018.pdf

Chicago

Hanks, Jonathon, Jacqui Dixon, and Treve Jenkin. AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION. WWF South Africa, 2018. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_an_appetite_for_collaboration_2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hanks |first1=Jonathon |last2=Dixon |first2=Jacqui |last3=Jenkin |first3=Treve |title=AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=October 2018 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_an_appetite_for_collaboration_2018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hanks2018appetite, author = {Hanks, Jonathon and Dixon, Jacqui and Jenkin, Treve}, title = {{AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_an_appetite_for_collaboration_2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }