HA Quest u nforgJustice er COMMUNITY CHEST COVID-19 FOOD RELIEF REPORT
FOOD RELIEF PROGRAMME 2020 | REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF THE COMMUNITY CHEST
Published by Community Chest and Ikusasa Lethu Media Editor Zenariah Barends Design and DTP Hawa Palekar Cape Town, South Africa December 2020
FOOD RELIEF PROGRAMME 2020 | REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF THE COMMUNITY CHEST
YUMNA MARTIN
YUMNA MARTIN is Head of Community Investment at Community Chest. It is indeed a great honour to write the foreword for this food relief impact report, Hunger: A Quest for Justice, which highlights the work that Community Chest engaged in during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a proud Community Chest staff member, I am pleased to report that Community Chest has been at the forefront to help mitigate and move the status of the most vulnerable people of our Country from a state of dependency on food relief to a state of self-reliance. We do recognise the importance of the immediate relief of social distress and hunger and therefore we echo our President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement that "Alleviating hunger is not an act of charity. It is an imperative for any society that is founded on respect for human rights. " South Africa has faced many challenges since the advent of our democracy in 1994. Presently, state capture, inequality, poverty, and the lack of restitution are amongst the biggest threats to the stability of our democracy. Despite these challenges, Community Chest recognises this as an opportunity to invest in a new society, and work towards a new consciousness and social order that contributes to a growing and inclusive economy and society. As indicated, this online report highlights the initiatives that Community Chest undertook during the COVID-19 lockdown in providing food relief to vulnerable communities for a seven-month period from April to October 2020. A multi-pronged strategy was adopted, as we worked in collaboration with a range of stakeholders in the public, private and civil society sectors. The report highlights the collaborations with partners, investment and support that Community Chest made to grassroots organisations that were at the coalface of food relief in communities. In addition to the food relief impact study, supplementary contributions to this report were made by colleagues at Community Chest and the Kuils River Community Action Network (CAN), one of the CANs that Community Chest worked closely with. In addition, Community Chest has also partnered with key experts, development specialists and academia to investigate how we can interrogate our current food systems and make the system more equitable and just. Moreover, how can we reimagine a new framework that decreases the vulnerability of South Africa’s poor and move towards a more equitable and just framework? We have therefore moved from theory to practice by implementing these innovations in food relief and are increasingly engaged in developing a holistic approach to food security. We are hopeful that through deepening our collaborations with other stakeholders we can develop an approach which addresses food security systemically, so that we are not caught off-guard, especially in times of crisis and disaster, as has been the case during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
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1. FOOD PARCELS The food parcel distribution platform was designed to distribute food parcels directly to vulnerable families, through Community Chest’s network of civil society partners. Food products were procured by Community Chest and packed into parcels at Community Chest’s food distribution hub. Civil society partners were required to collect the food parcels allocated to them at the distribution hub and then do onward distribution to the selected families, through their own networks and systems.
The Community Chest Food Relief Programme provided interventions across six different platforms. These platforms constituted six different ways that people could access food relief from the Community Chest. Through these cumulative platforms, Community Chest was able to serve South Africa’s food-stressed communities through 348 266 cumulative feeding days over a seven-month period. This report provides a breakdown of the amount of feeding days that were reached across each of the six platforms and presents some high-level insights.
THE SIX FOOD RELIEF PLATFORMS FOOD PARCELS PLATFORM ONE PLATFORM TWO PLATFORM THREE
BULK FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS VIA FOOD HUBS
PLATFORM FOUR
PLATFORM SIX
2. FOOD VOUCHERS The food voucher distribution platform was designed to virtually distribute food vouchers directly to vulnerable families. Through this platform, vulnerable households were issued a digital food voucher via text message. These food vouchers were redeemable at selected grocery stores across the country. This platform allowed Community Chest to reach communities in a number of rural areas and provinces that might otherwise not have been reached through food parcels.
FOOD VOUCHERS
EAT OUT RESTAURANT FUND
PLATFORM FIVE
For the reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform was as follows: • Community Chest distributed 12 572 food parcels, at an aggregated cost of R400 per food parcel. • Based on the calculation of the cost for feeding an individual a diet that meets the minimum nutritional value requirements, one R400 Community Chest food parcel was projected to feed one individual for 16 days.[1] • Thereby, the cumulative feeding days as a result of the food parcels distribution platform was 201 152 feeding days.[2]
For this reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform was as follows: • Community Chest distributed 1 988 food vouchers, at an aggregated cost of R500 per food voucher. • Based on the calculation of the cost for feeding an individual a diet that meets the minimum nutritional value requirements, one R500 Community Chest food voucher was projected to feed one individual for 20 days.[3] • Thereby, the cumulative feeding days as a result of the food voucher distribution platform was 39 760 feeding days.[4]
FINANCIAL (CASH) GRANTS HOMELESS FEEDING INITIATIVE
3. BULK FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS AND FOOD HUBS Both the bulk food distribution and food hubs platforms were designed to support existing food relief programmes through providing food products in the form of multiple food boxes or bulk food products to soup kitchens, children’s homes, school feeding programmes, community networks and food hubs.
DEFINITION OF A FEEDING DAY Feeding days are the number of days the allocated amount of food provided or purchased would last to feed a single adult. This feeding days calculation is based on data adapted from the 2017 Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) Minimum Nutritional Food Basket calculation. This calculation determined that the cost for feeding an individual a diet that meets minimum nutritional value requirements, costs R25 per day.
For this reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform was as follows: • Community Chest invested R179 200.00 in bulk food distributions. • For the purposes of this report, the assumption is that most beneficiaries received multiple food parcels, therefore the bulk food distributions investment is expressed as 448 food parcels.[5] • Based on the calculation determining that a R400 Community Chest food voucher was projected to feed one individual for 16 days, the cumulative feeding days as a result of the bulk food distributions and food hubs platform were 7 168 feeding days.[6]
Therefore, for the purposes of this report, the amount of feeding days is calculated using the following formula across all six food relief platforms: · Amount of feeding days = cost of one food unit / cost to feed an individual per day @R25 per day · Food to the value of R25 = one feeding day. Our food relief programme serves vulnerable families, soup kitchens, community-based feeding schemes across nine provinces and continues to support feeding hubs in community.
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Food parcel feeding day calculation: R400 per food parcel / R25 per day = 16 days feeding days Cumulative food parcel feeding day calculation: 12 572 food parcels X 16 feeding days = 201 152 feeding days [3] Food voucher feeding day calculation: R500 per food voucher / R25 per day = 20 days feeding days [4] Cumulative food parcel feeding day calculation: 1 988 food vouchers X 20 feeding days = 39 760 feeding days [5] Bulk food distributions investment expressed as food parcels: R 179 200 total investment / R400 per food parcel = 448 food parcels [6] Cumulative bulk distribution/food hubs feeding days calculation: 448 food parcels X 16 feeding days per food parcel = 7 168 feeding days [1]
[2]
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4. EAT OUT RESTAURANT RELIEF FUND Community Chest partnered with the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund, which was designed to raise funds for supporting restaurants that have reopened their kitchens to create meals for vulnerable communities, or to supply grants or products to existing feeding schemes.
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Community Chest is responsible for administering and managing the fundraising bank account and for the vetting of applications. Through this platform, Community Chest administers the payment of financial contributions in the form of grants to restaurants that prepare meals for vulnerable families, soup kitchens, communities, etc.
FOOD PARCELS DISTRIBUTED BREAKDOWN PER PROGRAMME
For this reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform was as follows: • The Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund invested R1 855 000.00 in food relief programmes as a result of funds raised. • Given the dynamic of financial contributions being made to these programmes, this investment is not expressed as a number of food parcels or vouchers. • However, the feeding days calculation is applied to the full investment amount (expressed as the cost of one food unit) to indicate a cumulative number of 74 200 feeding days achieved as a result of the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund.[7]
Food parcels distributed by COMMUNITY CHEST
5. FINANCIAL GRANTS
5 458
In addition to the financial grants that were made through the restaurant relief fund, Community Chest also made a number of its own grants available to existing feeding programmes across the Western Cape. These grants were utilised to purchase bulk food products for soup kitchens, community-based feeding schemes, etc. For this reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform was as follows: • Community Chest invested R 434 210.00 in food relief programmes through financial grants. • Given the dynamic of financial contributions being made to these programmes, this investment is not expressed as a number of food parcels or vouchers. • However, the feeding days calculation is applied to the full investment amount (expressed as the cost of one food unit) to indicate a cumulative number of 17 368 feeding days achieved as a result of financial grants.[8]
Food parcels distributed in PARTNERSHIP 6. HOMELESS FEEDING INITIATIVE Community Chest also made financial contributions to the Homeless Feeding Scheme by contracting suppliers to provide cooked meals for homeless people. This platform catered to a number of homeless communities across the City of Cape Town including the 180 individuals that lived in Community Chest’s offices and a number of homeless individuals living at the Culemborg Safe Spaces site. For this reporting period, the impact achieved through this platform is as follows: • Community Chest invested R 215 458.50 in the homeless feeding initiative. • Given the dynamic of financial payments made to a number of service providers to provide meals for these individuals, this investment is not expressed as a number of food parcels or vouchers. • However, the feeding days calculation is applied to the full investment amount (expressed as the cost of one food unit) to indicate a cumulative number of 8 618 feeding days achieved as a result of the homeless feeding initiative.[9]
Cumulative restaurant relief fund feeding days calculation: R 1 855 000.00 total investment / R25 per day = 74 200 feeding days Cumulative financial grant feeding days calculation: R 434 210.00 total investment / 25 per day = 17 368.4 feeding days [9] Cumulative homeless initiative feeding days calculation: R 215 458.50 total investment / R25 per day = 8 618.3 feeding days
2 416
HEALTH AND WELFARE SETA 2 288
SOLIDARITY FUND MAITRI FOUNDATION CAPITEC BANK
1 305 1 105
[7] [8]
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1 988
FOOD VOUCHERS DISTRIBUTED
BREAKDOWN PER PROGRAMME
BULK DISTRIBUTIONS & GRANTS BREAKDOWN PER PROGRAMME
INVESTMENTS Food vouchers distributed by COMMUNITY CHEST
219
Food vouchers distributed in partnership with Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)
300
Food vouchers distributed in partnership with CAPITEC BANK
Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund
R 1 855 000.00
Financial Grants
R 424 210.00
Homeless Feeding Programme
R 215 458.50
Bulk Food Distributions & Food Hubs
R 179 200.00
1 469
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348 266 7 168
cumulative feeding days as a result of BULK FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS
CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF FEEDING DAYS ACHIEVED
DATA INSIGHTS
The below graph shows the percentage breakdown of the Rand value invested in each of the food relief programmes between April and October 2020.
201 152
cumulative feeding days as a result of FOOD PARCELS
39 760 cumulative feeding days as a result of FOOD VOUCHERS
8 618 cumulative feeding days as a result of HOMELESS FEEDING INITIATIVE
74 200 cumulative feeding days as a result of EAT OUT RESTAURANT RELIEF FUND
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17 368 cumulative feeding days as a result of FINANCIAL GRANTS
Between 1 April and 31 October 2020 Community Chest achieved 348 266 cumulative feeding days as a result of the Food Relief Programme
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The following two graphs show the breakdown of the Rand value invested as well as the amount of feeding days in each of the food relief programmes, achieved across the nine provinces.
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LATIEFA JACOBS
LATIEFA JACOBS is a founder member of Ithemba, a community-based organisation (CBO) based in Kuils River. Kuils River Community Action Network (Ithemba) stems from the heartbeat of someone who was brought up with the mindset and moral responsibility of paying the way forward. It is a simple concept, based on sharing when you have the means to share. Feeding others has been part of my family rituals and traditions for as long as I can remember. My collaboration with Community Chest started long before COVID-19. I believe my studies in Community Development had a huge impact on how quickly I could adapt myself and mobilise a team of dedicated people using the resources and agency of our own people in Kuils River. Kuils River CAN is a network completely operationalised through community involvement. It was created during week two of lockdown when people were still puzzled and did not understand COVID-19 fully. We initially started feeding with two 40 litre pots, making do with what we had. Within a short period, we grew from feeding 220 people daily to 900+ people at a time. As the days progressed, more feeding points were needed and those that existed before COVID-19 buckled under the strain. It was at this point that I was called by “Tussen Ons” for an interview. This was a huge turnaround that meant one of two things for me, depending on who I came across. One was that people had more faith in me as a community worker as I was validated as worthy in my field by my peers. The other was that people stopped giving because they thought I was supported by such a huge NPO. However, with the collaboration with Community Chest, many of our beneficiaries could find their dignity once again. We were able to provide food parcels to families who had not been receiving SASSA payments and had lost their income due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we had sufficient ingredients to keep the doors of our feeding points open. The feeding project is still a vital need in many communities, especially Kuils River where the unemployment rate has skyrocketed. Many people who had been doing general labor have not returned to work due to the closure of many companies during lockdown. Many domestic workers have still not returned to work due to people working from home and becoming accustomed to doing chores themselves. We are in the process of looking at healing in a holistic way. While some have recovered, many are still left to fend for themselves. Children are the majority of those that require food and this is why these feeding points are so important. Schools will be closing in December again and many children will have to search for food. The feeding stations provide a safe space for them as it prevents them from standing at traffic lights or walking far from home, roaming the streets, not knowing who will open the next door. I cannot emphasise the importance of feeding points enough, more than by pointing out the risk our young people face by roaming the streets for food. I would like to thank Community Chest for the opportunity. This investment has given birth to a vision of a collective approach of positive change for our community, not just a feeding point. Thank you for the four different occasions we received food donations and kitchen supplies from Community Chest. It made an impact, visible on the faces and hearts of our beneficiaries who don’t have to go to sleep hungry.
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CHRIS MINGO
CHRIS MINGO is the Grant-making Manager at Community Chest. High levels of inequality, poverty and unemployment ensure that almost 31 million people are trapped in crippling poverty in South Africa. COVID-19 has shown the misalignment between food security policy and the lived realities of many people; as it does not deliver on the right to food as highlighted in the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution. Rising food insecurity, a spike in unemployment and loss in income are major concerns. So while resources have been mobilised to address the COVID-19 pandemic, nutrition for the poor lags. Before the onset of COVID-19, research highlights that daily almost 53 children under the age of five die in South Africa. Malnutrition does not only threaten children’s survival, it undermines their ability to thrive and achieve their full potential. Close to 27% of children under five were stunted. This is a sign of chronic malnutrition that compromises not only children’s growth but also their cognitive development, education and employment chances.[1]” What has become self-evident, is that structural inequalities need to be addressed because it perpetuates inequality and poverty.[2] COVID-19 has brought the injustice that the destitute face to the fore. Prof Thuli Madonsela, in a recent presentation, noted that social justice, is about just and fair access to and equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, privileges and burdens in groups or between groups.[3] It is ultimately about the equal enjoyment of rights and freedoms by all regardless of human diversity and historical injustice. It is embedded in various international conventions and in our Constitution. If the status quo persists, poverty and inequality will worsen, which is a direct threat to our democracy. A good illustration is the growing dependency on a single food supply chain, driven by a monetary agenda that excludes the majority of the people. The absence of a food strategy in most government programmes, threatens the stability of our democracy. We need to develop a new consciousness, where the family makes their own decision about food security.[4] Community Chest and its academic partners have worked tirelessly to interrogate current food relief policies and have developed bottom-up approaches to food relief that are being implemented across the country. This has provided the platform for Community Chest to move its food relief strategy to include support to community food hubs, increasing people’s food security, inter alia, food kitchens/food gardens, the provision of food boxes, and food vouchers. In conclusion, the right to land and the means of production, such as water, seeds, fishing equipment, finance and skills training, for small-scale producers facing hunger, should be enhanced.
https://mg.co.za/article/2017-12-01-00-hunger-is-still-killing-south-africas-children/ https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/civitas/article/view/23076 Social Justice in South Africa. [3] https://www.sun.ac.za/si/en-za/Documents/Events/Symposium%202018/1%20Madonsela%20-%20Social%20Justice.pdf [4] Davids, L (2020). World Hunger Day 2020: Asking new questions of the world we want to live in. Challenging False Narratives, in a Global Crisis. Reflections on Human Rights, Inequality and Securing Food Systems. Barends, Z & Drimie, S (Eds). [1] [2]
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GERARD PAYNE
GERARD PAYNE is a Project Officer at Community Chest. Amid the COVID-19 epidemic crisis, when the most vulnerable across the country lacked access to basic human needs such as food, the Community Chest led the response to food relief to vulnerable households, specifically in areas where the state and government were absent. An opinion many development experts hold is that COVID-19 has not demonstrated anything new but rather exacerbated what is deeply entrenched in the historical DNA of our communities – poverty, inequality, and injustice. Nonetheless, Community Chest vigorously responded to the immediate plight of hunger. However the long-term solution to food relief and social relief of distress undergirds their unwavering position on social justice, systemic change and social transformation. The Story of Nico September - July 2020 Nico was laid off from work soon after the first lockdown announcement. Nico applied via our Facebook page in the heart of winter for support for himself and family of four. July is Cape Town's season of torrential rain, and so navigating my way through the rain and the narrow streets of Belhar were challenging. Moreover, I found three people standing outside in the pouring rain - mom, dad and Nico. I met a family whose living conditions represented the face of many households in Cape Town's townships. We entered a dilapidated two-roomed structure – the inside dark and wet. The mother kept apologising, saying, "Ek is skaam om vir Meneer in te laat kom, dis hoekom ons buite gewag het”. [i] As a development practitioner, who has seen profound forms of poverty, disease and inequality across the African continent, it is expected that I am immune to hopelessness and despair. However, the extent of this family's need – the cold in the home without any food and electricity was unimaginable. What further pulled on my heartstrings was the immense gratitude shown for the box of food. I immediately wanted to do more for this family. The only consolation that I had was that for two weeks this family was going to be sustained with nourishment. Some would say “Wow, that is such an amazing act of kindness Gerard! Others would agree with a "well done!” Still, for me, it is about a son, Nico Pretorius, who had the boldness to reach out and say, "I need help". Over the last five months, I have encountered scores of families that share in the far-reaching poverty in Cape Town. Many of these families hold their reasons on why they need help. Stories that demonstrate why they remain trapped in a perpetual cycle of poverty and vulnerability. Our greatest quest in response to these issues, acts of charity and welfare, acts of kindness and compassion is that it never substitutes the need for social justice. The kind of justice that removes the barriers that keep communities in the wet, in the shack, in the dark and in a constant state of emergency.
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LORENZO DAVIDS
LORENZO DAVIDS is the CEO of Community Chest. We present this report on the work of Community Chest in Food Relief during South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown, with a sense of profound anxiety about the deepening food crisis in our country. South Africa’s 58 million people live in the most developed country on the African continent and yet 31 million people (55.5% of the population) live trapped in crippling poverty bands as defined by StatsSA, the government’s statistical service. Across its diverse rural and urban landscape, the hunger crisis struck with severity. Two things became abundantly clear to us as we worked with diverse groups to address this issue. The first is the issue of food justice. Food justice itself is about two things: the right to access food and the right to access nutritious food. The second is the issue of food security. The latter concerns the availability of nutritious food on a regular and frequent basis. South Africa’s food crisis is one of both food injustice and food insecurity. People do not have access to food and they do not have access to food on a regular basis. This crisis has affected people from all strata of society. While food justice largely affects poor people, food insecurity affects people across all walks of life and from all economic bands. This has had a severe and debilitating effect on the wellbeing and stability of both families and communities. Food distribution services are now commonly frequented by a four-generation family all standing in the food line together: The mother, along with her teenage daughter and with the teenage daughter’s baby and the great-grandmother. This is not uncommon. But when four generations of one family stand together in a food line, it speaks to inter-generational inequality and to the entrenched nature of the food crisis in communities. Community gardens to secure access to nutritious foods, are often at too small a scale to address the food and hunger crisis. However, we must support and nurture the development of an independent self-sustaining food system, that allows communities to participate in designing their own food justice and food security through local small-scale farming and foodgrowing initiatives. The Community Chest will continue to advocate for food justice and food security at policy level. But its on-the-ground community work will continue, through its food boxes and food voucher system to address the urgent food relief that is required. We are grateful to our funding and community partners that have enabled us to do this work. In our striving to develop a food secure future, we must ensure that we focus on investing in local food growing initiatives. The South African food crisis can only be adequately addressed through a broad-based collaborative effort by both government, communities, the private sector and civil society agencies. This crisis is a stark warning to all of us that we can no longer ignore the hunger on our streets. It is only a common vision and actions in support of that vision that will help to avert this crisis.
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