FoodBank South Africa

Since 1960 the world has produced enough food to feed everybody yet, with few exceptions globally, hunger -- or food insecurity -- has increased.

South Africa is one of a handful of countries that is capable of providing enough food for its people. However, 40% of our population, amounting to over 19 million South Africans, are food insecure.  Food insecurity is directly linked to poverty and poverty is directly linked to income inequality.  The country has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world., with the richest 10% of the population receiving almost half the income and the poorest 20% receiving only 3.3%.  Poverty plays out on racial lines, with estimates indicating that 56% of black people are poor compared to 36% of coloured people, 15% of Indian people and 7% of white people. Whilst poverty and food insecurity are rife in urban areas of South Africa, the rural areas where approximately two thirds of the country's poor live are particularly hard hit.

In South Africa, hunger is not a matter of supply.  We can grow enough food.  Rather the problem is one of access and logistics.

Every day huge volumes of good food are wasted. Why is this, when the country has thousands of worthy agencies, not-for-profit organisations and programmes trying to secure food for the needy?

The issue is that in the past they have largely worked independently, with inadequate resources. No existing organisation has, until now, harnessed South Africa's private and public resources. The result? Huge, avoidable and unacceptable inefficiencies: unharvested crops, unused manufacturing products and wasted surpluses of quality food.

The South Africa Forum for Food Security was formed in early 2008 to address the existing splintered approach to hunger relief in this country. This effort was sparked and guided by a partner in the form of The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN).GFN is a US based charitable organisation which works collaboratively to reduce world hunger by securing more food and enhancing the ability to efficiently distribute food through foodbanks and foodbanking networks around the globe.

Over 18 months these partners polled hundreds of organisations to explore how to more fully and efficiently utilise South Africa's food resources to address the needs of hungry South Africans.  Towards the end of 2008, these efforts culminated in a number of leading hunger relief organisations, including Feedback Food Redistribution, Lions Food Project, Robin Good Initiative and Johannesburg Foodbank, agreeing to amalgamate their operations to form a new organisation. FoodBank South Africa was born.

Supported by the national government and leading companies in the food industry, FoodBank South Africa is working to establish a nationwide network of community foodbanks in urban and rural areas of South Africa, with all working towards the common goal of eliminating hunger and food insecurity.

FoodBank South Africa is leading a large-scale co-ordinated effort to establish a national network of community foodbanks to feed South Africa's hungry.

What is a foodbank? A foodbank is an organisation which acts on behalf of all of the -- potentially hundreds of -- social services organisations ("Agencies") which may be operating in its area. The foodbank procures food (and some other groceries), which are principally donated by the food and grocery industries, government agencies, individuals and other organisations. The foodbank defaces the branding to protect the interests of the donors.  The foodbank safely stores this food in hygienic conditions, using refrigeration where required, sorts it into nutritionally sensible packages, and makes it available or delivers it to the Agencies.

By acting on behalf of all the Agencies in their area, the foodbank achieves huge economies of scale. It cultivates food sourcing and distribution professionalism, which enables it to source and distribute massively increased volumes for the Agencies, at a far lower cost.

FoodBank Cape Town launched on 2 March 2009, and is Sub-Saharan Africa's first foodbank.  FoodBank Johannesburg, FoodBank Durban and FoodBank PE followed with their launches on 26 May, 21 July and 22 Sep 2009 respectively. Several other South African cities will launch their own foodbanks soon.

We're helping the rural areas too. Each of the major urban foodbanks being formed in South Africa is intended to directly serve an area within a 100km of that foodbank. In addition, these foodbanks are expected to take responsibility for a broader area spanning a 300km radius, for example by helping to nurture satellite foodbanks in that area.

That will help to address hunger in a large portion of rural South Africa, but we will do more.  Smaller communities, including rural villages, will soon form foodbanks. These rural foodbanks will bring more food to South Africans in need and facilitate distribution of rural produce to urban markets, helping rural economies to grow.

And there's more. To achieve even greater impact we formed FoodBank South Africa, a national body serving our foodbanks. FoodBank South Africa will offer efficiencies such as engaging with our largest food and other donors on a national level.  It will harness the support of national, provincial and traditional government. It will also assure the quality of foodbank operations to protect donors and the people who eat the food we source and distribute.  Only those foodbanks which adhere to standards agreed with FoodBank South Africa will be entitled to use become "Certified Member Foodbanks" and to use our logo. We intend that in time our name and logo will enjoy a deserved reputation for quality and integrity.

We are not alone. Dozens of countries around the world have already implemented their own national foodbanking networks. We are partnering with and learning from other national foodbanking systems thanks to the support we receive from the Global FoodBanking Network.

Let's understand a little better what "foodbanking" entails.

On a national basis, FoodBank South Africa works to source donated food and other grocery products.  FoodBank South Africa then arranges for that donated produce to reach those who need it most, via the national system of community foodbanks.

The community foodbanks receive, store and sort food, and then issue it to local food aid agencies.

The foodbank receives food from government agencies, farms and fisheries, food manufacturers, food wholesalers, supermarkets and consumers.

The foodbank then issues that food to food aid agencies. These are essentially the numerous organisations in the community which provide food to the needy. The agencies include, for example, soup kitchens, disadvantaged schools, orphanages, old age homes and HIV/AIDS clinics.

Pictorially the system can be shown as follows: