At FoodBank South Africa (FBSA) we place a high value on relationships: relationships with the people we supply food to, the people we source food from, and the people we partner with in the process.
We work for the hungry, providing them with food and developing sustainable solutions to food insecurity. This makes the agencies we support – and the beneficiaries they feed – our primary customers.
On May 11, FoodBank Cape Town hosted an agency meeting at Lookout Hill in Khayelitsha. The meeting was attended by about 180 people representing 136 of the 248 agencies that FBSA supports in the Western Cape.
The objective of the meeting was to give agencies an opportunity to give feedback to us, as well as for us to communicate to agencies recent developments within the organisation.
The feedback received was invaluable and overwhelmingly positive. Representatives from a wide range of agencies thanked FBSA for being a consistent provider of food to the hungry.
Gratitude was expressed in many ways, including an impromptu performance by the Ilitha Senior Club from Gugulethu. Dressed in bright orange t-shirts, the elderly ladies – or “gogos” – spontaneously sang a song composed especially for FoodBank. “The song’s about a lady with many children that went starving. All of a sudden along comes FoodBank to supply them with food,” explained Esther Zoya.
The Ilitha Senior Club is a support group for elderly people who are often saddled with the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren and for orphans. In spite of the critical role they play in their communities, they also suffer abuse and burnout.
FoodBank supplies food to the club, which in turn feeds other hungry people in Gugulethu.
Concerns voiced by agency representatives centred on the allocation of food that is appropriate to the agency and on developmental programmes.
Appropriate food
Agencies that care for orphans and abandoned children need food and products appropriate for growing infants and young children.
Neil Davison, the general manager of FoodBank Cape Town, explained that FBSA has acquired a new stock allocation system that should prevent future mismatches – like the case of an orphanage receiving bread rolls and cosmetics. “We’re changing our processes and working hard to prevent such things from happening, but your feedback is essential,” Neil said.
Development
Since FBSA is committed to finding sustainable solutions to food insecurity, accredited agencies are required to put in place their own sustainability programmes aimed at building self-reliance rather than dependence.
Patrick Andries, the manager of development at FBSA, said FBSA was engaging with government and non-governmental organisations to help agencies build the capacity necessary to develop sustainability programmes.
“We’re working closely with the Department of Social Development, which is grouping soup kitchens in communities and running educational programmes to foster job creation,” said Patrick.
“The food insecure must become agents of their own development,” said Patrick.
FoodBank’s sustainability programme
In a bid to source more food and better quality food for the hungry, FBSA has developed a sustainability model that would not only produce food for the hungry, but also create employment and wealth in rural areas where the majority of the poor live.
Managing director of FBSA Jeroen de Lijster explained how the Agri-FoodBank model would ultimately result in more food and better quality food, while at the same time create self-reliance. Jeroen also reported back on progress made in terms of FBSA’s proposed buying programme, whereby agencies would make a substantial saving by buying basic food and non-food items from FBSA.
Community field worker Thandiswa Ndleleni said she was thrilled with the turnout and the positive atmosphere. "Since the meeting, a lot of people have expressed interest in the Agri-FoodBank and in the buying plan – they’re very excited about the benefits of buying food from FoodBank. Someone from one of our agencies has offered us use of her farm in the Eastern Cape for use to grow vegetables."
