One third of all food produced in South Africa goes to waste, but food insecurity remains rife. Now, farmers and agribusinesses are teaming up to address this problem.
Food insecurity remains a formidable challenge in South Africa, with one in four children suffering growth stunting because low-income families often cannot afford the fresh fruit and vegetables essential for normal childhood development, according to recent research from the Shoprite South African Food Security Index.
The Index suggests that the problem has been accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of high inflation and stubborn interest rates, leading to household indebtedness and severely reduced expendable income. According to the Index, food security reached a low of 45,3% nationally, compared to 56,7% at the beginning of the lockdowns and 52,4% in 2012.
Yet, an estimated third of all food produced in South Africa goes to waste because it cannot be marketed through conventional channels, according to the food redistributor FoodForward SA.
“This is because surpluses of edible produce arising from supply chain disruptions, natural disasters, cold-chain inefficiencies, specification issues or market access problems cannot always be sustainably channelled to where it is needed,” says Tasneem Sulaiman-Bray, Director of Corporate Affairs at KAL Group, a diversified retailer across the agricultural, manufacturing, retail, and fuel & convenience markets.
Sulaiman-Bray says this creates an opportunity to combat against food insecurity through initiatives and partnerships with farmers, and making use of unused food surpluses is one way of tackling the food shortage faced by many hungry families.
An example of such an initiative is Harvesting Hope, a dedicated programme making proactive efforts in the Western Cape to turnaround these trends through innovative partnerships with commercial and small-scale farmers, food charities, and agribusinesses. Together, these organisations are effectively establishing a parallel supply chain to bring nutritious perishable food to communities in need. KAL Group and its retail business, Agrimark, are part of this programme.
“We are mobilising commercial farmers all over the province to donate tonnes of surplus food, including potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, beetroot, squashes, and shelf stable fruit, that would otherwise have gone to waste,” says Sulaiman-Bray.
Since its inception in 2023, the Harvesting Hope partnership has rescued R1 479 273 worth of food using 200 TEGO bins donated by Agrimark, collecting a total of 1 345 bins full of produce. Manufactured by KAL Group subsidiary, TEGO Plastics, the bins are purposely designed for the on-farm collection and transport of fresh produce.
Sulaiman-Bray says the TEGO bins provided by Agrimark turned out to be a game changer, as it enabled the Harvesting Hope partners to collect much larger volumes of food than before.
“These bins are designed specifically for harvesting and transporting produce, so it provides a simple but powerful solution to collect much more produce than before, and transporting it to the warehouses where it could be packaged for distribution to beneficiaries.”
Of the 667 tonnes of produce sourced to date, 84% was rescued using the bins provided by Agrimark, and 16% was procured from small-scale farmers. The donations were used to prepare more than 2,6 million meals, which were distributed by Harvesting Hope partners. Furthermore, KAL Group – the biggest supplier of packaging materials for export farmers through its Agrimark Packaging branches – also provides packaging for the Harvesting Hope programme to enable distribution of rescued produce to charities across the country.
Sulaiman-Bray has been overwhelmed by farmers’ willingness to participate in the programme.
“Very often we don’t even have to ask for donations. In a number of instances, farmers proactively asked how they can get involved, or told us when there would be suitable produce to collect.”
She adds that, through collaborating with partners who care about food security, Harvesting Hope not only provides communities with much needed fresh produce but also empowers small-scale farmers in the country. This is because although the bulk of donations leveraged through Harvesting Hope has come from large commercial farming operations, small-scale and developing farmers have also found a valuable route to market through the programme.
“One of the biggest challenges for small-scale farmers is market access. They may have amazing produce, but not enough volume to supply retailers. The initiative offers them an avenue to market their produce.
“We are working hard to spread the word in farming communities through our regular interactions with our farming clients, and we believe the business model of the programme is scalable as more farmers become involved. We encourage farmers to join us as we work together to achieve greater food security in our communities,” concludes Sulaiman-Bray.
