00:00Africa grows some fresh, healthy and delicious food for much of the rest of the world.
00:17But countless Africans cannot afford the same quality food at home.
00:26Instead, many end up stuck with cheap, ultra-processed foods.
00:31The food system is broken, it's only giving options that are unhealthy.
00:37It's what is available, it's what is affordable, it's what is accessible in order for them to eat.
00:42It's affordable alright, but at what cost exactly?
00:46Welcome to The Flipside.
00:48The World Bank says that 3 billion people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet, and a big chunk of them are right here in Africa.
01:01According to the latest statistics, South Africa now ranks fourth on the global list of countries where people have to consume ultra-processed foods in large quantities.
01:14Millions of people across Africa are malnourished, while at the same time millions are becoming heavier and heavier.
01:22One worrying trend is that the problem is also prevalent among children.
01:27Now these are items that are full of sweeteners, preservatives, chemicals, bulking agents, and basically empty calories.
01:37They are eating unhealthy food, which actually is just filling, but energy dense and poor in nutrition.
01:45With ultra-processed foods, you'll lose essential micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals, which are crucial for a healthy diet.
01:54Why are we getting heavier? First of all, we do more sedentary work than our ancestors.
02:01And secondly, we eat more processed foods, which are often high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt.
02:09Also, being heavy is still viewed as a sign of wealth in some African regions.
02:14And what happens when people cannot afford to consume more wholesome food items?
02:20Well, healthcare costs rise dramatically. Workers become less productive.
02:26Children suffer stunted growth. Not even to mention the higher mortality rates.
02:32Therefore, this isn't just about health issues, but a serious social and economic problem as well.
02:38And it isn't just limited to South Africa.
02:41So the same trend, we see it the same as, you know, in Zambia, in Zimbabwe, in Mozambique, in Switzerland, in Lesotho, in Mauritius.
02:52And some of the South African countries that are also producing unhealthy food, they see the other neighboring countries as an expansion.
03:00In fact, nearly all sub-Saharan countries have economies where over half their populations cannot afford a healthy diet, according to the UN.
03:10In some African regions, this has even become a main driver for migration, causing further losses to those economies.
03:18So what can we do to stop this rather destructive trend?
03:22We need to create those safety nets. We need to be creating jobs. We need to be thinking about that.
03:27But as we do that, we've got to be thinking about healthy diets and what we do in terms of making healthy diets affordable.
03:34We could put an end to this by, you know, implementing policies that can actually increase physical activity,
03:42that can increase people having access to nutritious food, policies such as, you know, subsidizing healthy diets.
03:51Focusing on this would guarantee in 10 years, in 15 years, a well-nourished population that is able to benefit completely from an education policy, from other policies,
04:03and as they become adults, enter a workforce and be then fully productive.
04:07Look, healthy diets are indeed expensive, but sensible policies can help a great deal in feeding people and establishing a better future for all.
04:19So instead of showing off what we can afford, we should start making healthy food and lifestyle choices.
04:26Eating cheap junk can become more expensive in the long run as entire governments and their economies lose their competitive edge in a globalized world.
04:38As the saying goes, cheap is expensive. And that's the flip side.
04:43the flip side.
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