Maverick Citizen managing editor Zukiswa Pikoli spoke to researchers, food producers, health experts and food justice advocates to find out what creates hunger, malnutrition and food poverty in South Africa

Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min The first episode starts at the foundation of health, where experts share the pros and cons of breastfeeding versus formula milk in an episode titled Latch on: why breast is best. Pikoli then weaves the story of health through life stages, talking about early childhood nutrition, young adults, and how men and women are affected by noncommunicable diseases due to hunger and malnutrition.

The podcast shares findings by investigative journalist Adele Sulcas on the impact of child-targeted marketing and growing child obesity patterns, which lead in adulthood to a vulnerability to fatal noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart diseases.

Pikoli travelled as far as northern KwaZulu-Natal to find the stories of food producers such as small-scale fish and crop farmers who find themselves hungry and unable to access markets. She circled back closer to her home city, Pretoria, to talk to inspirational people, including the project manager at the Siyakhana Growth and Development NPO, Mapenane Kgatitsoe. She took Pikoli on a visit to schools in the Tshwane township of Atteridgeville and shared the intricacies and solutions to provide healthy, balanced meals to young minds.

All...