The Household food and Nutrition Security Programme in South Africa - Mpho Putu

South Africa is characterised by a situation of food security at the national level but not at the household level for much of the population. Due to food insecurity, many families lack sustainable physical or economic access to enough safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable food for a healthy and productive life. Food insecurity may be chronic, seasonal, or temporary. Food insecurity and malnutrition result in catastrophic amounts of human suffering. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 60 percent of all childhood deaths in the developing world are associated with chronic hunger and malnutrition.

Hunger is a result of poverty in South Africa is high and has affected some people more than others. Poverty is a condition which is associated with lack of basic needs such as water, healthcare and food, sufficient access to social and economic services and few opportunities for formal income generation. Poverty denies children the right to primary healthcare, basic education, adequate nutrition and safe water and sanitation (UNICEF, 2014). World Bank (2014) mentions that, more than eight million people around the world die each year because they are too poor to stay alive. When poverty hits a family, the vulnerable members such as children become its immediate victims. Since the early stages of life are critical to the physical, intellectual and emotional development of an individual, poverty can prove to be a serious issue for life.

A study conducted by the Labadarios et al (2014) found that 21.6% of children between the ages of one and six had stunted growth and3.6% were severely malnourished or wasted.

There is a high prevalence of children in South Africa who suffer from malnutrition.  Malnutrition is a leading cause of child morbidity and death. It impacts on the cognitive, physical and immune system development of children. Ultimately it is associated with poorer school performance, lower earnings later in life and poor health during childhood and adults years. It heralds a negative development cycle, as stunted malnourished children are more likely to give birth to low-weight infants who in turn are at risk of stunting and its consequences. The immediate cause of under and malnutrition are illness and poor feeding and care. The underlying causes are poverty, poor household food security, lack of access to resources, inadequate access to maternal and child health services and lack of access to adequate water and sanitation.

 

The Department of Health (2015:12) mentions that the immediate causes of malnutrition are linked with lack of dietary intake, stress, trauma and disease. These underlying causes of malnutrition are associated with the levels of household food security, maternal and child care, education and information, as well as health services and the environment. According to the Child Health Unit (2014:43), infectious diseases constitute one of the key factors contributing to child malnutrition and malnutrition makes a child more prone to these infectious diseases. Thus, it affects school attendance and academic performance. Therefore, it is important to provide children enough nutritious food in order to avoid malnourishment and to help children get their normal level of health.

 Another study by Gonzalez (2013) reported that 2.5 million children go hungry each year in Johannesburg and in Limpopo; this number translate to 4%. Early childhood diseases and especially those caused by HIV infection, to a greater extent are worse if a child has a low level of nutrition.

 The alarming problem of poverty, hunger and malnutrition in South Africa has a rippling effect on the development of children who are the future generation of this country. The nutritional inadequacies have impacted negatively on a number of school going children and the quality of education provided in the country.

 With unemployment levels at 25% nationally and over 15 million people receiving social grants, people do not have enough money to buy food. People in employment or who have casual jobs indicated that they are food secure in the first week after their wages are paid but are often food-insecure for the remaining three weeks in the month. Low-paid and irregular work reduces stability of access to food. Social grants provide a crucial safety net to many.

 Women face hunger more often than men, due to disparities in income, limited access to employment or means of production and cultural practices that put them last or allow them smaller portions when food is in short supply. Women in the communities covered by this study are still largely responsible for feeding their families and are further burdened when family members are suffering from diseases such as HIV or AIDS, with time and money needed for food spent on caring for the sick.  

 At present 26% of South Africa’s population regularly experiences hunger and an additional 28.3% are at risk of hunger (SANHANES, 2013). Food insecurity affects formal and informal settlements in both rural and urban areas. According to the SANHANES survey, the largest groups actually experiencing hunger live in urban informal (32.4%) and rural informal (37.0%) areas. The same areas account for the biggest percentages at risk of hunger: 36.1% in urban informal areas and 32.8% in rural informal areas. The lowest prevalence of hunger, at 19%, was reported in urban formal areas.

It is clear that countries including South Africa are paying and will continue to pay for the consequences of poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Eradicating malnutrition is an investment that cannot be over emphasised if South Africa is to raise the human capital needed for nation building. Feeding programmes are one of those programmes implemented in a number of countries, including South Africa, in an effort primarily to improve the health and quality of life of its people.

South Africa adopted a rights-based approach to food security in 1996. This approach is entrenched in the constitution. The government recognizes the importance of enabling people to feed themselves and when this is not possible, securing safety nets and strategies to help. Currently, the South African Human Rights Commission oversees the provision of social and economic rights which include the right to food.

 Household Food and Nutrition Security Strategy

On the 11^th September 2013, Cabinet approved the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security, together with the Household Food and Nutrition Security Strategy. The Households Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2013) recognise various responses that are already in place to address household-level food and nutrition insecurity. These include: social grants, which raise the disposable income of vulnerable households; the direct provision of food through feeding schemes and the social relief of distress programme; the fortification of staple foods, in particular to improve access to micro-nutrients; measures to increase subsistence production; and strategies to moderate food prices. In the absence of these interventions, there is no doubt that the scourge of food and nutrition insecurity would be far worse than it is, and the democratic state should be commended for what it is already accomplishing.

 

However, while these interventions made a significant impact, households’ access to nutritious food remains a challenge. Food and nutrition insecurity remain unacceptably high as these measures by themselves are not adequate. The strategy recommends that they must be expanded, enhanced or better focused, used in more effective combinations, and/or complemented by additional interventions. It is also clear that, because of the complexity of both the challenge and the necessary response, better co-ordination and monitoring is essential.

The strategy proposes for a more coherent and robust response to food and nutrition insecurity with the establishment a larger network of ‘food distribution centres’. The problem of malnutrition which encompasses both over – nutrition and under – nutrition continue to pose a serious social and economic challenge to the country having severe negative consequences in terms of disease and disability, brain development, educational attainment and income potential for individuals and communities.

The Strategy further proposes for government in the short term to establish a robust network of Food Distribution Centres that respond efficiently and effectively to the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the country. This is supported by a substantially larger financial commitment from the fiscus than was the case in previous years. The Food Distribution Centres have a particular strategic focus on investing significant funding in raising the micro-nutrient intake of beneficiaries participating in the programme to combat the growing challenge of malnutrition.

The establishment of Food Distribution Centres is thus a strategic intervention that will fulfil the government’s objective of ensuring access to food by the poor and vulnerable. The Food Distribution Centres (FDCs) will foster radical economic transformation by unlocking government market and source food from emerging food producers and also ensure bulk procurement of food by the government feeding and food distribution programmes.

THE PROVINCIAL FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

A Provincial Food Distribution Centre is a warehouse used to store and distribute food. The facility should be suitable for food handling with appropriate: racking, refrigeration, food handling equipment, loading and off-loading zones. The facility stores and distribute food which has been donated or procured by the community, business and government.

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 Community Food Depots (CFDs) and Community Nutritional Development Centres (CNDCs). The PFDCs will function as a central storage, packaging and distribution centre to supply CFDs with food parcels and CNDCs with dry and fresh ingredients for cooking meals.

 The primary focus will be ensuring access to food by poor and vulnerable households. The model will be implemented in a phased approach with few targeted areas at first.

It is envisaged that each province will have a Provincial Food Distribution Centres, Community servicing Community Food Depots at district level and Community Nutrition and Development Centres at Local Municipality level targeting the most deprived wards in the country. Currently there are 9 Provincial Distribution Centres and 166 Community Nutrition and Development Centres.  

·         The establishment should start with the provincial distribution centre, followed by the community depots and then the CNDCs.

·         The programme will target the most vulnerable and deprived districts and wards.

·         Food will be sourced at the provincial level and also procured from local food producers

·         Appointment of local youth, women and NPO mandatory

·         All relevant stakeholders must be consulted and involved in all respect

 

Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDCs)

 

CNDCs play a critical role in insuring that community’s access food. The main objectives of the CNDCs is to ensure access to food by vulnerable, poor and marginalised members of our communities. Most of these CNDC’s are situated in the deprived rural and urban communities where hunger and poverty is rife.  CNDC’s are community based feeding centres operated by local community-based organisations (CBO’s) 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.

 The CNDC’s beneficiaries are accessing quality and nutritious food on daily basis and there is an attitude of appreciation and great response for this government’s intervention. . While the CNDCs offered feeding programs for individuals, they also collaborate with other sector departments and development agencies to offer training and development programmes to empower vulnerable individuals and families to be self-reliant, meet their own basic needs and create livelihoods for their households. More than 221 CNDC’s are in operation country wide. What need to be escalated are the development programmes that will assist beneficiaries to move from the point of being entirely dependent on government programmes to being self-reliant. CNDC’s continued to grow both in service and number of beneficiaries.

 Capacity Building: Training of CDNC cooks

CNDC shall provide all its beneficiaries with a healthy balanced diet that is safe and nutritious. As a results all CNDC’s will have trained cooks operating the CNDC kitchen, training will focus mainly on food safety and hygiene, preparation and also on client care. The Centre’s trained cooks, along with all the Centre’s staff and management, must comply with all relevant food preparation and handling legislation and guidelines.

The cooks shall holds a basic food safety certificate and will regularly undertake additional training. All staff will have annual in-house training on safe food practices and hold a basic food handling practices certificate. CNDC cooks must regularly plans and reviews menus, as well as researching further information on current and up to date food practices and options. We provide various combinations of spoon/fork/finger foods for all children. Water is offered as a primary drink and we ensure beneficiaries have adequate access to clean and fresh water at regular intervals.

  When planning meals, cooks prepares, stores and cook food in accordance to the Food Safety regulation. We consider food choices very carefully, to provide a menu that is sensitive to the patrons’, needs as a group and as individuals, and reflects the cultural differences that exist within our community.

The short course is meant to prepare and provide basic food preparation techniques as well as recipe interpretation and costing a skill that will enable then to prepare cook and serve dishes profitably. Scope

·         Food Safety and Hygiene

·         Food preparation theory

·         Food preparation practical

·         Food costing

·         Customer care

The course must comprises of 30 hours of guided learning as well as a practical assessment at the end to determine what has been learnt.

 Cooks Uniform

In any food working environment, great, personal hygiene and safety of the employee and consumers goes a long way in food safety. One way to encourage as much cleanliness in the professional kitchen as possible is to require uniform practices that help prevent bacteria from spreading in the food preparation area.

It goes without saying that all kitchen staff are required to come to work clean and wear clean, uniformed clothes and coverings when working with food. If you’ve ever noticed chefs and cooks in the kitchen when dining out, their uniform consists solely of all white. It seems a little silly to those not in the food business that white, the easiest stained colour of all, is used in one of the messiest professions out there. The reason behind it is nothing but safety.

All CNDC’s cooks should. must be uniform. They should receive at least set of chef jackets, aprons, the mop caps and safety shoes

CNDC menu guidelines

Every CNDC menu differs slightly depending on the local context and needs of the community. Menus are worked out together with the CNDC’s cooks to ensure that the menu is culturally acceptable and nutritious. Each plate of food consists of a protein, starch,   at least two vegetable types and a fruit;

• The necessary engagement opportunities need to be created for the cooks to advise on the requirements of the menus and allow to influence the types of food to be served as they have the best local knowledge of the communities nutritional needs;
• Ensure that the menus for each new week are submitted to the cooks by the previous Friday, so that they can plan ahead. The Service Provider should insist on the cooks and the helpers that it is important to ensure that each person being served receives a decent and nutritious portion;

Management

During the lifetime of a CNDC there will be a number of management issues and responsibilities that will need to be addressed. These issues fall into two main categories. The first of these is management of the CNDC – ensuring things happen at the right place at the right time. The other element is the management of people involved in the CNDC from staff, beneficiaries to partners.

To implement a CNDC there are certain steps that need to take place in a certain order. We have covered this in detail in this Operational manual.

The organisation that manages the CNDC must have a working Board that is responsible for the overall ownership and accountability. The Board must meet at least twice a year depending on their constitution. It must also have a Management committee that runs the day to day affairs of the CNDC.  There also needs to be clarity on exactly who is responsible for what. Delays and problems often occur if people think a task was someone else's job or a person, however well-meaning, doesn't have the correct skills. The identification of suitable Roles and responsibilities for specific key people and organisation will mean that people know what is required of them and will help the operation of the project.

Community participation needs to be encouraged and managed so that people can become fully involved in the decision-making process of a project. This means the mechanisms for keeping people fully engaged must be in place throughout the project.

Working with other organizations’ is often crucial to making your CNDC happen.  CNDC’s are about building partnership and getting more organisation to assist with programmes that will assist and support beneficiaries. Some could assist with resource mobilization, possible jobs for beneficiaries

Engaging CDP and other professionals is usually an important part of getting your CNDC to work effectively. Their expertise is invaluable but it is important that you use them the right time, that they share your goals and that you select the right people.

Development Programme

Poverty is devastating for poor and vulnerable people.  It denies them their human right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. It also robs them of their right to protection from exploitation, violence and abuse.

According to the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan for South Africa 2017 - 2022 (2017), Social protection and sustainable livelihoods are essential for access to safe and nutritious food, but also to safe water, sanitation and health care. Social protection programmes provide an important safety net for South Africans of low socio-economic status, who would otherwise been forced deeper into poverty. Social protection is thus crucial in addressing food and nutrition security.

 The Department of Social Development uses the Sustainable Livelihoods approach, which is people centred and seeks to address multiple areas of citizen needs in the context of poverty and underdevelopment.  Sustainable Livelihoods objective is to empower communities to become self-supporting as this is seen as one of the most pressing needs in South Africa. Only in breaking the cycle of poverty and dependence can people regain their dignity and envision a brighter future. The approach calls   the poor and vulnerable people, women, men and children exercising their rights and accessing dignified livelihood opportunities within the context of a just, accountable and democratic political, legal and socio-economic environment.

Three key issues to achieving sustainable livelihoods.

ü  Access and Control over Productive Resources
Enhancing access to and control over productive resources like land, water, inputs and capital across all sectors of the economy and more importantly in the agricultural sector, and achieve food justice at national level.

ü  Enterprise (Markets) Development programme through Cooperatives
Engagement with both public and private sector institutions to support enhanced agricultural production, marketing and agro-processing to sustain value chain driven employment and incomes, by especially poor women. Successful integration of small to medium entrepreneurs into previously unfavorable and inaccessible mainstream economic and social security schemes.

ü  Women’s Economic Empowerment
Enhanced capacity by women and their organisation to challenge ideas and beliefs that are a barrier to reducing the social and economic marginalization of women.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

 

Children’s Act 38 of 2010 (as amended by Act 41 of 2007),

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No.108 of 1996

Food and Nutrition Security Policy (2013) Department of Agriculture,

Households Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2013).

Demetre L, Mchiza, L , Steyn N,P, Gericke G, Maunder EMW, Davids YD,   & Parke W (2014) Food security in South Africa: a review of national surveys.

National Development Plan Vision 2030

National Food and Nutrition Security Plan 2017 – 2022

National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy

National School Nutrition Programme, Department of Basic Education, 

South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2014

StatSA 2015 Community Survey

Social Assistance Act No.13 2004:

World Bank annual report 2013: end extreme poverty, promote shared prosperity