The recent civil unrest has threatened food security in the parts of the country that were affected. To assist in providing citizens who do not have access to food, Standard Bank has assisted in providing 80 tons of fresh food to communities in KwaZulu-Natal.
Using the mechanism One Farm Share, a programme founded by the bank in partnership with agritech pioneer HelloChoice, and is distributed by FoodForward SA, the largest food distribution non-profit in South Africa, the bank has supplied 6 million meals to those in need in the past eight months.
OneFarm Share matches requests for food relief to smallholder, emerging farmers and food processors with excess fresh produce and provides a reliable, trusted, channel for them to donate their surplus food to help overcome hunger and poverty. The platform allows corporate donors and the public to help too.
The platform helps farmers get their surplus produce to the relief market fast and effectively by providing transport, logistics and warehousing support, which has been made possible as a result of FoodForward’s existing logistics and infrastructure capabilities.
In the last two weeks, a total of 80 tons of fresh produce has been distributed by OneFarm Share, into the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The province has taken a substantial knock, especially in the rural areas of eSikhaleni, Empangeni, Pongola, Nongoma, Dundee, Pomeroy, Tugela Ferry, Greytown, Mooi River and Howick.
KZN was the epicentre of the larger portion of the civil unrest and is a major producer of various agricultural products such as sugar, milk and poultry products. The province also serves as an entry for imported food products, including wheat, rice, poultry products, and palm oils.
To directly assist in the aid against food shortage in KZN Grant Jacobs from HelloChoice says, “OneFarm Share has also been able to assist PicknPay’s Feed The Nation foundation through food deliveries this week, by engaging Tripplo (a logistics software platform built to automate and optimise operations for transporters in Africa) for logistical support in moving food parcels from Norwood to Umhlanga. We are in ongoing discussions as to how else we can support Feed The Nations’ food relief efforts, particularly with fresh produce from OneFarm Share.”
In addition, corporates are starting to pledge their assistance through either financial donations, or food contributions. For example, Accenture SA has pledged an additional 36 tons of fresh produce over the next three weeks, procured directly from several Gauteng emerging farmers for distribution via the OneFarm Share network.
While more food donations are expected to trickle in, an emergency social assistance programme is needed to prevent a full-blown food security crisis from unfolding in the short term, especially among some of the most vulnerable communities in these towns.
The reality is that food security is about more than just having sufficient supplies. It also requires food accessibility, affordability, nutrition and stability over time - This is where the challenge lies. Wendy Pienaar, Standard Bank Head of Ecosystems says, “This has been the main driver for the creation of the overall OneFarm Platform, a digital business-to-business platform to connect and provide services across the agricultural ecosystem through Lend, Protect, Grow, Trade and Share services.
“Given the extraordinary events that took place in our country which has now resulted in the disruption of food supply chains, we at Standard Bank are now able to provide access to additional solutions for our clients in the Agricultural value chains who have experienced local marketing and distribution challenges for their produce,” says Pienaar from Standard Bank.
One of the solutions is for farmers with surplus / non-premium produce, where OneFarm Share offers a route to market on a donation / special offer basis, and this food will go directly into the food relief space through accredited beneficiary organisations, such as FoodForwardSA, SA Harvest and Gift of the Givers.
