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The Kids 4 Life Foundation in conjunction with the Food Bank SA will be opening a Food Bank Distribution centre in Lenasia in 2009. The main focus of this centre will be to give access to people from as far as Poortjie to Riverlea access to food.
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
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.
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
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