SECURING FOOD FOR THE FUTURE
Corporate South Africa invests heavily in ensuring food security for the country’s people, a role that has become increasingly more important over the last 18 months, writes TREVOR CRIGHTON
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outh Africa is generally a food-secure country on a national level on account of its production and export levels. Food security, though, is about more than adequate supply – it requires accessibility, affordability, nutrition and stability over time. Our country’s longstanding poverty problem means that the poorest people in the country cannot afford the abundant, nutritious food that is available. Consumer food price inflation was at 6.8 per cent year on year in May 2021 – less than the double-digit inflation seen in years
of drought, but exacerbated by job losses and additional income challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdowns. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) do plenty of work in supporting the country’s most vulnerable people – and the food security space is no different. To be effective, though, they need support from corporates. Several companies in South Africa have partnered with reputable NGOs to attempt to help keep the country’s most food-insecure people fed.
POWERFUL PARTNERSHIPS Woolworths and FoodForward SA have been in a food security partnership since 2018, with funding from the retailer serving as a key enabler of the organisation’s expansion strategy. FoodForward SA (FFSA) is a food bank, established in 2009 to address widespread hunger in South Africa. The organisation connects a world of excess to a world of need by recovering quality edible surplus food from the consumer goods supply chain and distributing it to community organisations that serve the poor. The partnership between Woolworths and FoodForward SA (FFSA) was initially a donation of R3-million over a three-year period, which has since been renewed and extended for another three years. “In true Woolworths style, we get involved beyond monetary donation – we partner
Rawsonville community in the heart of the Cape Winelands receiving much-needed Woolworths food parcels.
and get our hands dirty. Specialist teams in the business have provided guidance on different aspects such as food processing and food safety, among others,” says Zinzi Mgolodela, Woolworths director of corporate affairs. “Over and above the financial support, the partnership also sees Woolworths stores participate in the FFSA foodshare app. The partnership with FoodForward SA helps the Woolworths Trust to realise its mission, which is to make a meaningful impact in local communities by supporting programmes that improve food security and uplift education.” One of the FFSA programmes supported with the Woolworths funding provides meaningful employment opportunities to previously unemployed youth, thereby supporting long-term change. Sustainability can be a thorny issue in the NGO space in any area, something of which Woolworths is aware. “We acknowledge that providing people with food care parcels is not sustainable and permanent solutions to support people’s livelihoods enabling them to secure their own supply of food is critical. But here in South Africa, we are faced with the immediate challenges of hunger, so it is necessary to do both – immediate food relief and identify opportunities to empower and support our
Gift of the Givers is a long-term relief partner of Woolworths.
food systems for long-term food security. This balancing act is reflected in our food security programmes,” says Mgolodela. Gift of the Givers is Woolworths’s long-term disaster relief partner and the company has been actively involved in supporting the organisation’s distribution of food care parcels, particularly to people directly impacted by COVID-19. “While we recognise that the distribution of food care parcels is not sustainable, devastatingly many people’s livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic and they require immediate assistance,” says Mgolodela. “We have invited our customers, employees, business partners and suppliers into this particular COVID-19 response initiative for broader and more meaningful impact. We leveraged on the fact that a lot of people in the country wanted to help at this time, our ‘Fill a Bag’ campaign provided a co-ordinated platform for giving.” Zinzi Mgolodela
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