The National Income Dynamics Study released its most recent findings on hunger in South Africa. The proportion of households with children who reported a child going hungry at least once during a period of a week rose from 12% in Wave 2 (13 July and 13 August 2020) to 16% in Wave 3 (2 November and 13 December 2020).
For orphaned children especially, securing food on a daily basis is an even greater challenge. According to research conducted by the Children’s Institute, about 55,000 children live in a total of 33,000 child-only households in South Africa and 70% of these live in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
FoodForward SA supports 1,000 beneficiary organisations (BOs) across South Africa, of which 420 comprise of OVC centres, ECD centres and after-school care facilities. These organisations play a vital role in providing safe spaces for vulnerable and at-risk children. Through these BOs, FoodForward SA is able to reach 167,773 vulnerable and at-risk children daily.
iKhaya LikaBaba is a registered OVC facility located in a rural community near Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal. Established by Sean and Mel Grant in 2007, iKhaya LikaBaba joined FoodForward SA’s network in May 2014 to help them provide healthy meals to the children that live at the centre. “This is their home. We provide for every aspect of their upbringing, including housing, security, clothing, meals, education, health, and transport as well as meeting their spiritual, emotional and social needs. Having a partnership with FoodForward SA means we have a reliable source of donated groceries,” says Loressa Kritzinger, Manager at iKhaya LikaBaba. “We provide our children with three nutritious meals and two snacks daily to ensure they grow well and remain healthy.”
In 2020, through the Mobile Rural Depot programme, FoodForward SA helped iKhaya LikaBaba serve 32,850 nutritious meals and 21,900 snacks.
