We at FoodBank grapple with a sad reality every day: there are many more food insecure people in South Africa than we can feed. We have to carefully select which organisations – we call them “agencies” – to support with food. This can sometimes feel like we’re playing God. So, how does FoodBank deal with this difficult choice?
While we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion or political affiliation, we are guided by a set of selection criteria. To start with, our agencies must be non-profit organisations (NPOs) or public benefit organisations (PBOs) involved in poverty alleviation. We partner with NPOs and PBOs which serve the most vulnerable communities of people, namely: orphans and vulnerable children; impoverished people infected and affected by HIV/Aids; the aged; destitute and pregnant women; and the unemployed. In contrast, for example, we won’t provide food support to a profit-making concern or a sports club.
Secondly, we have a strong preference for agencies that have development programmes (such as skills training) or their own income-generation projects (such as beading projects) designed to discourage dependency and build self-reliance. Providing food to schools or early learning centres ticks this box, because by providing food there we encourage attendance and improved attention. Both help to nurture a new generation who will be independent in later life. We prefer agencies that are community-based – or “owned” by their communities – and those that are able to monitor and evaluate the impact of their work, and our food contributions. Our agencies must keep records, including financial records, and have a sound governance structure.
Mpho Rantsoabe
When we choose to partner with an agency, we enter into a contract whereby the agency pledges to use the food for the purposes for which it is intended. In particular, the agency pledges not to sell the food and to give it – without discrimination – to its beneficiaries, the people it in turn serves.
FoodBank employs fieldworkers in all of our regions (such as Mpho Rantsoabe, pictured). They act both as a supporter and as a watchdog. They continually assess the needs of our agencies and monitor how we are serving them, and they assess compliance with our agency contract.
FoodBank’s recently appointed National Agency Manager, Khumbu Zuma, is responsible for providing direction to our fieldworkers, by developing the strategy and policy that guides how we relate to our agencies. Khumbu joined FoodBank in 2010 having worked as a development and research practitioner for the past 12 years. She is passionate about helping poor communities use their resources – especially scarce natural resources – in a sustainable manner.
Khumbu Zuma, National Agency Manager
An agency does not receive food support indefinitely. As already noted, we cannot help as many people as require help. We therefore redirect our support, with adequate notice, when appropriate.
One of FoodBank’s goals is to create co-ordination and eliminate competition in the hunger relief sector, explains FoodBank’s Managing Director Alan Gilbertson. “For this reason, we may choose to disassociate with an agency if they find significant food support from another source. We recently discovered that a number of the schools on our Lunch Buddies programme in the Western Cape also receive food from the Peninsula School Feeding Association, an excellent project doing excellent work. We have therefore chosen to redirect our food from those schools to agencies which were receiving no food support.”
At the last count, FoodBank SA was providing food to 1,059 agencies and had a waiting list of over 1,500 agencies that have applied to us for food support. Khumbu noted that “until we are able to source more food, we simply can’t take on more agencies. However, we’re working hard to find that food!”
To learn more about the agencies we serve, visit our profiles and lists pages.
