An Empty Plate: Why We Are Losing the Battle for Our Food System, Why It Matters, and How We Can Win It Back

She is an agri-food activist, believing that a more equitable agri-food system is fundamental to building a more equitable society.. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University. About the AuthorTracy Ledger is a South African researcher in the field of economic development, with 25 years of research experience

She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University. She is an agri-food activist, believing that a more equitable agri-food system is fundamental to building a more equitable society.. Tracy Ledger is a South African researcher in the field of economic development, with 25 years of research experience

Why is it that food prices are so high that millions of South African families go hungry, while the prices paid to farmers for that same food are so low that many cannot stay in business? Why are the people who produce our food – farmworkers – among the most insecure of all? Why do high levels of rural poverty persist while corporate profits in the food sector keep rising? How did a country with a constitutional right to food become a place where 1 in 4 children is so malnourished that they are classified as stunted? An Empty Plate analyzes the state of the South African agri-food system.