South Africa Household Affordability Index Shows Mixed Food Price Changes in April 2026

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group released its April 2026 Household Affordability Index on Thursday, showing a mixed picture for low-income South African households where staple carbohydrates have become cheaper but protein sources have grown more expensive. 08 in April 2026. 18 a year earlier.

12 in April 2025. 88 for 10kg, up 12 percent as of April 2026. The cheaper maize meal cannot replace the nutritional value of the proteins whose prices have risen.

According to the April 2026 Household Affordability Index, low-income families in South Africa underspend on basic nutritional food by at least 18 percent every month. 90. Those shortfalls leave visible marks on the youngest children.

The same report found that 30 percent of boys under five in South Africa are stunted. Among girls under five the figure is 25 percent. Stunting represents the permanent physical result of sustained poor nutrition in early childhood.

South Africa's stunting rate was declining slowly before Covid-19. The South African Early Childhood Review 2024, published by the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town and partners including the Department of Basic Education, found that the pandemic erased those gains. Cases of severe acute malnutrition rose 33 percent between 2020 and 2023.

In 2022/23, 15,000 children were hospitalised for severe acute malnutrition. AllAfrica reported that the April data shows both problems at once: the food that got cheaper is not the food that builds a child's body, while the food that does remains out of reach for many families.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group has tracked these monthly costs for years, producing a consistent measure of what a basic nutritious diet requires versus what families can actually afford.

Its latest index captures the tension in South African kitchens where maize porridge fills plates more easily than meat or liver, even as medical evidence mounts about the long-term consequences for child development.