STUDENT HUNGER: University food schemes fill the gap as student hunger threatens academic success

As students enter university to pursue their studies in hopes of a better future after graduating, leading to employment, the journey for many means sleeping at night on an empty stomach only to wake up and write exams. Students without funding say they often rely on university food programmes and donations to survive. 

Universities told Daily Maverick that thousands of students in the higher education sector were benefiting from food programmes run on campus, ensuring that students without funding were able to eat daily. The University of Cape Town (UCT) said its Food Sovereignty Programme, established in 2008, had has supported 2,315 students with monthly grocery packs in 2026 alone. 

UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said: “The programme provides food assistance through grocery packs containing non-perishable food items. Toiletries are included with the grocery packs wherever additional funding is available. These interventions are intended to help students meet essential nutritional and personal care needs while preserving their dignity and agency.”  

He added that the estimated cost of assisting illustrated both the value of the intervention and the extent of the need.

“A donation of R455 enables the programme to provide a student with up to two weeks’ worth of non-perishable food items, sufficient for one cooked meal per day, as well as a month’s supply of toiletries. A donation of R200 can provide food for up to 10 days. Approximately R1,800 per student would be required to provide food support for a month,” said Moholola.

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) said it supported 5,000 students in a year, and that student hunger at South African universities mirrored the broader realities of poverty, inequality and food insecurity that characterised South African society.

The university’s manager for student support and community outreach, Karuna Singh, said: “Wits University provides food support through a combination of direct food distribution, free prepared meals, food gardens and a student communal kitchen. The programme is intended to assist students experiencing food insecurity and is coordinated through the Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach unit within Student Affairs.

“One thousand hot meals are freely available per term day, through the Masidleni Daily Meal Project; food parcels are available once per month through the Food Bank, which operates on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons,” said Singh. 

The University of Pretoria (UP) provides food assistance primarily through the Student Nutrition and Progress Programme (Snapp). From 2021 to 2025, Snapp supported 4,316 students. This included 2,629 structured beneficiaries, 1,523 receiving food parcels, 1,106 receiving meal allowances, and 1,687 who received immediate, once-off support.

“The particularly high number in 2025 was associated with delays in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) payments, which temporarily left many students without adequate resources for food. This demand has continued into 2026,” said Deputy Director: Student Affairs at the University of Pretoria, Dr Lekwa Mokwana. 

Students speak on food hunger

A first-year student studying at Walter Sisulu University, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was without funding and relied on her uncle and grandmother for support. 

“I never had a bursary. If I don’t have food, I bunk classes, but during the exams I force myself to study while I am hungry. My parents live on a grant, so they cannot help me either. I live with my grandmother; we depend on the pension grant. It’s better at home,” said the student, who sometimes receives food from the university and lives in a nearby township, with her uncle helping with the rent. 

A Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) student, who also asked to remain anonymous, said he had been getting help from friends and the university.

“I was asking people around us if they don’t have something to eat, and that’s how I sort of try to manage some of the things. Based on my experience last year, it wasn’t like a formal programme; you just have to reach out to the person for a food voucher of R500 used at Pick n Pay. For a student who doesn’t have funding, it’s something that you can use to assist you, especially for someone who doesn’t receive any funding or any support,” said the student.

CPUT’s spokesperson, Lauren Kansley, said the university understood the plight of student hunger since roughly 60% of its students come from indigent families.

“We average around 500 requests from students for food… Some initiatives such as food gardens and departmental food drives do make a difference, but other avenues for exploration included food banks, voucher programmes and nutritional workshops. The university also acquired land near the Wellington Campus as well as a tractor and other implements to use it for training agriculture students, and whatever is produced by those students can go into feeding themselves and other students,” said Kansley. 

Financial challenges to support students

Daily Maverick has reported that research by the University of the Western Cape indicated that hunger among students across South African universities ranged from 30% to 65% – this means that up to one in three students, or more than half, at times go hungry. This was highlighted in the Union Against Hunger’s (UAH’s) recent submission to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) inquiry into South Africa’s food systems in March. 

Many universities, like the University of Johannesburg, issue 18 non-perishable food items such as rice, pasta, maize meal, sugar and tinned foods, among other essential groceries. Stellenbosch University, North-West University, which supports approximately 700 students, CPUT and the University of Mpumalanga are helping students get meals daily; financial challenges can limit programmes.

Moholola said: “The programme’s ability to respond to the demand is, however, dependent on the availability of financial contributions and donations from students, staff, alumni, donors and the broader public. Consequently, the need for assistance can exceed the support that the programme is able to provide at any given time.”

North-West University spokesperson Louis Jacobs said: “Food insecurity negatively affects concentration, class attendance, academic performance, and overall wellbeing, increasing the risk of disengagement and delayed completion.” DM 

If you would like to donate to universities

NWU: https://www.nwu.ac.za/initiatives-you-can-support 

UCT: https://devman.uct.ac.za/KidzNet/UCTDay/Donate 

UP: giving@up.ac.za 

UJ: https://www.uj.ac.za/corporate-service/give-to-uj/ways-to-give/

CPUT’s Student Affairs Division: Javern Zondah: @zondah@cput.ac.za