AN APPETITE FOR COLLABORATION

This report by WWF South Africa examines the health challenges associated with unhealthy diets and food insecurity in South Africa. It explores the potential for collaborative industry initiatives between food manufacturers, retailers, government, and NGOs to address the 'triple burden of malnutrition' and the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture.

• 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 health issues are severe in South Africa, with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers accounting for approximately 40% of deaths. Obesity prevalence is reported at nearly 58% for men and 71% for women.
• The South African food environment is dominated by large industrial companies whose strategies for profit and market expansion have increased the availability and affordability of unhealthy, processed-packaged foods, while contributing to the decline of small, local food networks.
• Industrial agricultural practices in South Africa are compromising food safety and nutritional value through soil degradation and chemical contamination from pesticides and antibiotics used in concentrated animal production.
• The report identifies four 'opportunity spaces' for industry collaboration to improve public health: providing a healthy retail environment, establishing a collaborative innovation group for manufacturers, engaging smallholder farmers and fresh produce markets, and implementing collaborative social marketing for nutrition education.
• Significant barriers to industry collaboration include the highly competitive nature of the food sector, concerns regarding collusion, differing levels of ambition among parties, and a lack of a common understanding of what constitutes a 'healthy diet'.

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} }