Research Report: Covid-19: Food prices continue to spike + observations (latest data 23 April)
On Thursday 23rd April 2020 we collected food prices in Pietermaritzburg supermarkets which target the low-income market. We present these price increases from before the lockdown to this date (2 March 2020 to 23 April 2020) and also look at the Child Support Grant top-up.
This Research Report* provides our latest PMBEJD data as well as observations of women holding their families together and struggling to buy and put food on the table. The Report also includes our own analysis based on what women are experiencing, thinking, and how they are responding.
Last week we started talking to women in Johannesburg and Durban, and some smaller more rural towns in Northern KZN and Northern Cape: the thoughts and fears that women in Pietermaritzburg have are reflected in other parts of South Africa. The cost of household food baskets continues to escalate. Women are worried about government’s ability to understand their situation, and whether there is a genuineness to step up and help them.
For more information or media enquiries on the research report, please contact Julie Smith on 072 324 5043 or at julie@pmbejd.org.za
*Any research from the ground during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown is not going to be as rigorous as it should be. Our observations are limited.