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Food Security: Establishment of Food Distribution Networks in South Africa - Mpho Putu


Food security is a condition related to the supply of food, and individuals’ access to it. The final report of the 1996 World Food Summit states that food security “exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.
The Four Pillars of Food Security
1.    Availability: Food availability relates to the supply of food to production, distribution, and exchange. A variety of factors determine Food production such as land ownership and use; soil management; crop selection, breeding, and management; livestock breeding and management; and harvesting. Crop production is not required for a country to achieve food security.
2.    Access; Food access refers to the affordability and allocation of food, as well as the preferences of individuals and households. Poverty can limit access to food, and can also increase how vulnerable an individual or household is to food price spikes. Access depends on whether the household has enough income to purchase food at prevailing prices or has sufficient land and other resources to grow its own food. Households with enough resources can overcome unstable harvests and local food shortages and maintain their access to food.
3.    Utilization: Once the food is obtained by a household, a variety of factors affects the quantity and quality of food that reaches members of the household. In order to achieve food security, the food ingested must be safe and must be enough to meet the physiological requirements of every individual. Food safety affects food utilization and can be affected by the preparation, processing, and cooking of food in the community and household. Nutritional values of the household determine food choice, and whether the food meets cultural preferences is important to utilization in terms of psychological and social well-being.
4.    Stability: Food stability refers to the ability to obtain food over time. Food insecurity can be transitory, seasonal, or chronic. In transitory food insecurity, food may be unavailable during certain periods of time such as during natural disasters, civil conflicts and droughts. Seasonal food insecurity can result from the regular pattern of growing seasons in food production. Chronic (or permanent) food insecurity is defined as the long-term, persistent lack of adequate food. Chronic and transitory food insecurity are linked since the re-occurrence of transitory food security can make households more vulnerable to chronic food insecurity.

Poverty headcount and hunger

According to Stat SA Community Survey 2017, most provinces reported a decline in the poverty headcount between 2011 and 2016, the lowest poverty headcount was reported in the Western Cape at 2,7%, followed by Gauteng (4,6%), Free State (5,5%), Northern Cape (6,6%), KwaZulu-Natal (7,7%), North West (8,8%), Limpopo (11,5%), and Eastern Cape (12,7%). It is worth noting, however, that the poverty headcount in Limpopo had increased from 10, 1% in 2011 whereas it remained at 5, 5% between 2011 and 2016 in Free State.
 Approximately 13, 3% (2, 2 million) of households in South Africa indicated that they had skipped a meal in the 12 months before the survey. The province with the largest proportion of households that skipped a meal was Eastern Cape at 17,6%, followed by Northern Cape (17,5%), North West (17,4%), Free State (15,7%), KwaZulu-Natal (14,8%), Mpumalanga (14,8%), Limpopo (12,9%), and Gauteng (10,8%). The Western Cape had the lowest proportion of households that skipped a meal at 8, 4%. Nationally, nearly one-fifth of households reported to have run out of money to buy food in the twelve months before the survey.

Initiatives by government

In 2013, Cabinet approved the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security, together with the Household Food and Nutrition Security Strategy to ensure that South Africans attain sustainable food and nutrition security. The strategy proposes a more coherent and robust response to food and nutrition insecurity with the establishment of a large network of Provincial Food Distribution Centres across the country. These centres are complemented by Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDCs) and other Centre Based Feeding Programmes within Department of Social Development such as Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs), Home Community Based Care Centres (HCBCs), Drop in Centre and Luncheon Clubs in poverty stricken communities to ensure a consistent supply of daily nutritious meals to vulnerable households and individuals

1.            Establishment of Provincial Food Distribution Centres (PFDC)

A Provincial Food Distribution Centre is a warehouse or other specialised building most likely with refrigeration (cold room) which is stocked with food which has been donated or procured by the community, business and government. This food is then distributed to the Community Based Organisations or Community Nutrition and Development Centres and Households in the community who qualify to receive assistance from these centres. These centres are set up in the most deprived areas  or wards across the country and are present as an assistance to the community.

A Provincial Food Distribution Centre (PFDC) is the central coordinating facility for the provincial network of food distribution centres .The PFDC delivers donated and procured food to District Food Depots (DFDs), Community Nutritional Development Centres (CNDCs) and to other feeding agencies. The PFDCs will function as a central storage, packaging and distribution centre to supply DFDs with food parcels and CNDCs with dry and fresh ingredients for cooking meals.

 

 The key functions of the PFDC


  •        Distribute procured and donated bulk food from Producers, Manufacturers, Wholesalers and Retailers;
  •       Supply raw ingredients to CNDCs on a weekly basis. The CNDCs informs the PFDCs about the requirements of the menu’s and the PFDCs in turn supplies them accordingly;
  •     The PFDC supplies the DFDs with prepared food parcels which will be distributed to deserving households.  The DFDs informs the PFDCs about the number of households it serves per week and the PFDCs supplies it accordingly;

       Currently there are about 9 Provincial Food Distribution Centre across South Africa

2.         District Food Depots (DFDs)


 District Food Depots (DFDs) are the centre that will be established at community level which   will be nearer to people. These will either receive food delivered from Provincial Food   Distribution Centres or will collect directly from the local food producers. The PFDC will   enable community food depots to procure food from local producers. The community food   depots, CNDCs and food agencies (NPO) will primarily be rural based as determined by the   prevalence of malnutrition and vulnerability.

 Agencies (NPO) and households will receive food directly from the Community Food       Depots.   The first choice will be for the Community Food Depots to provide food parcels to   the identified households within the service area. Local food agencies that have facilities to   cook hot meals from the donated food will also be prioritised; this will reduce the risk of     abuse of food.
The District Food Depots (DFDs) will have to comply with food safety standards to receive food from the PFDC. Implementing organisations in each cluster will be expected to train, monitor and evaluate the Community Food Depots. The District Food Depots (DFDs) will report to the implementing organisation the details pertaining to food distribution, agencies served and number of beneficiaries and household’s served. This will form part of the main agency database of the implementing organisation.

The key functions of the PFDC

  •      Receive and Distribute procured and donated bulk food from PFDC Local Producers, Manufacturers, Wholesalers and Retailers;
  •     Supply raw ingredients to CNDCs on a weekly basis. The CNDCs informs the CFD’s about the requirements of the menu’s and the CFDs in turn supplies them accordingly;
  •       The CFDs prepares food parcels which will be distributed to deserving households. 
  •       The CFDs informs the PFDCs about the number of households it serves per week and the PFDCs supplies it accordingly;

 3.     Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDC’s)

CNDC’s are community based feeding centres operated by local community-based organisations (CBOs) aimed at providing cooked nutritious meals to vulnerable and food insecure members of the community in a shared space. The centre has a kitchen and enough space equipped with cooking and catering equipment. It also has enough space where more than 20 table and 200 chairs can be fitted, to ensure that all beneficiaries will be accommodated.  The meals are served during lunchtime, five days a week. Beneficiaries participating in are seated at tables and enjoy a nutritious meal served with appropriate cutlery and crockery. A weekly menu is provided, posted in the facility and reflects the meals cooked for that week
The CNDC’s receive bulk food from the PFDC on bi weekly or monthly basis and also procured food directly from the local food producers such as community vegetable gardens that will be included as ingredients in preparing the meals for vulnerable individuals.

Currently there are about 223 CNDC’s in South Africa servicing more than 55 000 poor, vulnerable and marginalised communities


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