Ambitious project to fill 1-million mouths to stem child food poverty crisis

Child malnutrition remains a critical issue in South Africa, with about 27% of children under five experiencing stunting due to inadequate nutrition.

This dire situation has prompted an ambitious initiative by NGO Outside the Bowl Africa to provide 1-million meals to children in need in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, parts of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape from December 2-6.

Outside the Bowl Africa, founded by Mark Maingard and Marais Greyling in 2016, to deliver nutritious meals to communities in need.

Loren Erasmus, the company's executive director, told TimesLIVE Premium that The One Million Meals campaign has been designed to address childhood hunger in high-need regions across South Africa.

“Our team, alongside dedicated volunteers, will pack nutrient-rich meals at our facility to distribute to children in underserved communities. The campaign provides VitaKidz, our instant fortified porridge, and Maxi Blend Amazing Meals, which are nutritious, filling meal options. With these, we aim to support children’s health, growth and ability to thrive.”

A donation of R150 to the campaign can feed up to 20 children.

“Our target is to raise R3m to make the campaign a success. We’ve made encouraging progress and have gained incredible support from individuals, corporate partners and community initiatives. However, we still have some distance to go, and every bit of support counts. We’re hopeful that together we’ll achieve our goal to provide these much-needed meals.”

Erasmus said the organisation is committed to reaching as many vulnerable children as possible on an ongoing basis.

“Beyond the campaign, we strive to provide continued support to these communities, working with local early childhood development and community centres to ensure that children in need have consistent access to daily nutrition through VitaKidz and Maxi Blend Amazing Meals.”

Unicef’s recent Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood report analysed the impact and causes of dietary deprivation among the world’s youngest children in nearly 100 countries, and across income groups.

It warned that millions of children under the age of five are unable to access and consume a nutritious and diverse diet to sustain optimal growth and development in early childhood and beyond.

“The consequences of severe child food poverty can last a lifetime,” said Christine Muhigana, Unicef’s South Africa representative.

“Malnutrition in all its forms weakens immune systems and increases the risk of children dying from common childhood diseases. Children’s brain development is also impacted in the early years of life, affecting their ability to learn and leading to lifelong development challenges that can perpetuate the cycle of poverty,” said Muhigana.

According to Unicef, several factors are fuelling the child food poverty crisis, in South Africa and globally, including food systems that fail to provide children with nutritious, safe and accessible options, families’ inability to afford nutritious foods, and parent’s inability to adopt and sustain positive child feeding practices.

“Tackling severe child food poverty requires a commitment to transform food systems so that nutritious, diverse and healthy foods are the most accessible, affordable and desirable options for feeding young children,” said Muhigana.

“Child nutrition issues are also compounded in South Africa and other countries by easier access to cheap, nutrient-poor and unhealthy ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages that are aggressively marketed. These unhealthy foods and beverages are consumed by an alarming proportion of young children experiencing food poverty and displace more nutritious and healthier foods from their daily diets.”

To end child food poverty, Unicef called on governments, development and humanitarian organisations, donors, civil society and the food and beverage industry to urgently:

• Transform food systems so that nutritious, diverse and healthy foods are the most accessible, affordable and desirable option for caregivers to feed young children.
• Leverage health systems to deliver essential nutrition services to prevent and treat malnutrition in early childhood, including support for community health and nutrition workers to counsel parents and families on child feeding and care practices.
• Finalise and put into law the draft regulations for the ‘Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs in South Africa’, which include key actions such as front-of-pack labelling and the restriction of advertising of unhealthy foods to children.
• Ensure that every eligible household in South Africa receives the Child Support Grant to help meet their children’s basic needs.

Meanwhile on Thursday basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube and deputy minister Dr Reginah Mhlaule visited educational sites in KwaZulu-Natal to examine the progress of “critical programmes and projects” under the department.

The team’s first stop was at the Nsimbini Primary School in Durban to monitor the National School Nutrition Programme, “observing the implementation and impact of this vital program in providing nutritional support to learners”.