SA's main food security organisation gets R3m boost from Coronation ahead of second pandemic winter

Beneficiaries collecting packed food parcels at the Food Forward warehouse in Cape Town. South Africa's largest food security organisation, Food Forward, and donor Coronation Fund Managers will be providing 3.4 million meals to hungry South Africans this winter, as the socio-economic hardships of record unemployment, a third Covid wave, a struggling economy, rising living costs and interrupted service delivery collide. More than 30 million people are food insecure in SA, yet a third of all food produced in SA is wasted - a problem Food Forward is solving by connecting beneficiaries with good quality surplus food.

Food Forward staff members sorting and packing food to be collected by beneficiaries. More than 30 million people are food insecure in SA, yet a third of all food produced in SA is wasted - a problem Food Forward is solving by connecting beneficiaries with good quality surplus food. This winter Coronation Fund Managers is donating R3 million to Food Forward to ensure the provision of 3.4 million meals to hungry people across all nine provinces, as the unemployment rates, Covid figures and living costs spiral out of control in many parts of the country.

With South Africa now officially in the grips of record unemployment, a third wave of Covid infections, a struggling economy and interrupted service delivery, including rolling blackouts, millions of South Africans will once again need food aid to survive the tough winter months.

In response to this impending human catastrophe, Coronation Fund Managers has doubled up on its commitment to food aid across all nine provinces by donating a further R1.5m to SA’s biggest food bank, Food Forward SA. This brings its total donation to SA’s largest food security organisation to R3m, up from R1.5m a month ago.

The total donation unlocks more than 3.4 million meals across nine provinces, which will be distributed to those who need it most, via 1,005 beneficiary organisations.

Valda Daniels of the Coronation Personal Investments Team, Andy Du Plessis, Managing Director of Food Forward SA, and Wendy Bergsteedt, Coronation Group Head of Marketing, packing some of the 3.4 million meals their organisations are collaboratively providing to hungry South Africans, as the socio-economic hardships of record unemployment, a third Covid wave, a struggling economy, rising living costs and interrupted service delivery collide this winter. More than 30 million people are food insecure in SA, yet a third of all food produced in SA is wasted - a problem Food Forward is solving by connecting beneficiaries with good quality surplus food.

Fast facts:

• A third of all the food produced in South Africa is wasted, while more than 30 million people are food insecure. This number is likely to be elevated this winter as tough socio-economic conditions worsen.

• The Stats SA quarterly labour force survey released on Tuesday shows that SA's jobless rate has hit a new record high, at 32.6% - this is the highest level reached since the report was launched 13 years ago. However, if those who have given up on the hunt for a job are included, the rate is actually now 43.2%, while youth unemployment is a staggering 74.7%, meaning only a quarter of school-leavers under the age of 24 have a job in South Africa. (Source: DM)

• South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, according to the World Bank and Oxfam.

• FoodForward SA is currently the largest food security organisation in SA and makes a meal available at 85c a meal and are thus able to feed one person for R255 per year. It keeps its costs low, because it sources surplus food from the supply chain and only pays for the logistical costs associated with distributing the food.

• FoodForward SA is part of a global movement focussed on alleviating hunger and reducing the environmental impact by diverting good quality edible surplus food to where it is needed. Reducing food waste and loss is the third-most effective solution for fighting climate change. For every ton of food recovered, four tons of greenhouse gas emissions are saved.