South Africa’s hunger crisis is no longer a distant warning. Millions of poor households are forced to choose between food, electricity, transport and water every month. The country also faces worsening climate shocks, such as floods, heatwaves, drought and growing water scarcity.
Yet one of South Africa’s most overlooked food security solutions may already exist above the heads of millions of poor households. These are the rooftops of what’s known locally as RDP houses (small, 40m², government subsidised dwellings built under the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme after the end of apartheid). There are over 3.5 million across South Africa.
