FoodForward SA reaches national footprint in time for World Food Day

The possibility of your children and theirs having to rely on food relief organisations for nutritious food increases daily. Rising unemployment, increasing food prices and an ever growing population results in more people not being able to eat.

“Imagine a world of people suffering from starvation and malnutrition. The implications for our economy’s growth are frightening,” says FoodForward SA Managing Director, Andy du Plessis.  In 2019, globally, 6.9 per cent (or 47 million) children under five years old were affected by acute under nutrition, a condition caused by limited nutrient intake and infection. “It is worrisome thoughts like these that keep FoodForward SA going and striving towards our goal of ending hunger.”

“The importance of observing World Food Day on 16 October each year and acting on its goals each day can’t be emphasised enough considering how the lack of access to nutritious food can stifle human development,” says Du Plessis. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations designated 16 October as World Food Day in 1979, in order to promote global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all. This year, the theme for World Food Day events were: “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”.

According to the United Nations (UN), the world is not on track to achieve its sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030. The UN estimates that “if recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030.” Current UN estimates indicate that nearly 690 million people, which is equivalent to 8.9 percent of the world population, are hungry.

The number of undernourished people in Africa is growing faster than anywhere in the world. According to the UN, more than 250 million Africans are undernourished. In July, the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM) reported that 47% of 7,000 South African households indicated that they ran out of money to buy food in April 2020.

“Threats to food security like climate shocks, pests, violent conflicts and pandemics cause huge devastation, which makes it even more important that government and civil society do as much as they can to minimize its impact,” says Du Plessis who has been at the helm of FoodForward SA for the last 7 years. “FoodForward SA’s model focuses on the prevention of food loss and waste by intercepting quality edible surplus food timeously from the supply chain to feed vulnerable people.”

Products that are incorrectly labelled and that are unsellable because of problems that arise during the food production process, among others, are recovered by FoodForward SA from its supply chain partners - instead of this good food ending up in landfills or it being incinerated. Their Second Harvest programme ensures that fresh produce that doesn’t meet size, colour or other specifications is collected from commercial farmers and distributed to their network of just over 1000 vetted and registered beneficiary organisations. Collectively their network reaches more than 450 000 vulnerable South Africans daily of which 12% live in vulnerable rural communities. Rural communities are served through FoodForward SA’s Mobile Rural Depot programme each month.

Significantly, for the first time in its history, the FAO has set up an international day dedicated to the awareness of food loss and waste. It was celebrated all over the world on 29 September and aims to raise awareness among the global population on the impact of tons of food that doesn’t reach hungry people.

“Raising awareness for those who are hungry and continued fundraising initiatives for our food recovery and relief efforts are critical to our success,” says FoodForward SA’s Fund Development Manager Deidre Adams. “On World Food Day, volunteers from Investec, PepsiCo, Engen, The Institute of Risk Management South Africa and Nedbank helped us pack and distribute food parcels at our warehouses in Cape Town and Johannesburg.”

On World Food Day, DHL Express launched their 1 000 000 meals campaign which will see them feed hungry South Africans via charities like FoodForward SA. Mastercard and Pick n Pay has also partnered with FoodForward SA to increase efforts to get food to those who need it. Each time a customer shops online at Pick n Pay using their Mastercard, 30 meals will be donated to FoodForward SA. Both campaigns will run until the end of December.

On 15 October, FoodForward SA distributed quality surplus food to nine beneficiary organisations in Mpumalanga, scaling its footprint in all nine provinces. The beneficiaries included four charities that focus on orphans and vulnerable children, two community feeding programmes, one after-school facility for children, one shelter and one disability care facility. A total of 4 313 vulnerable people from Vlakbult, Mbombela, Mkhondo, Mbongwane, Embalenhle and Kwamhlanga will benefit from quality surplus food.

“We need a new social contract,” says Du Plessis. “One where we see social activism (citizens/civil society) and political accountability (parliament and government) as two sides of the same coin. We need both to work well and do what is necessary to bring about the change we want to see.”

As countries around the world suffer from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Food Day launched a call for global solidarity to help the most vulnerable people recover and make food systems more sustainable, stronger and resilient to shocks.