Durban — Tiger Brands has initiated Isondlo, a child nutrition programme, implemented in partnership with Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund at a cost of R42 million to support children and families who are food insecure.
This followed recent research by Wits University which indicated that the number of hunger-related deaths among children aged 5 and under was on the rise in South Africa.
It said since the start of 2022, hundreds of children have succumbed due to malnutrition and hunger, the biggest contributing factors being poverty and lack of household food security.
KwaZulu-Natal was named as the worst affected, followed by the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
This led Tiger Brands to commit itself through Isondlo to ensure that children under 5 years receive the nutritional requirements for their healthy development.
In 2021, Tiger Brands launched Isondlo, to strengthen its commitment to improve food security and sustainable livelihoods. They partnered with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund as an enabling partner with the resources and national reach required to implement the programme.
The organisation brought on board 19 grass-roots implementing NGOs in 17 districts across the country to assist with identifying food insecure families.
The grass-roots implemented partners would provide access to support the distribution infrastructure and processes needed to deliver the food hampers to the 10 000 children and their families, including those in far-flung areas.
Tiger Brands chairperson, Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, said they would not be an onlooker to child hunger. She said they viewed the challenge as a moral obligation to make a difference in improving food security in communities.
“Our children will determine what a future South Africa will look like, and we must play our part in contributing to a future where there is no child hunger. A future in which our children are resilient and in which they are able to live to their fullest potential because we collectively acted when they were young,” she said.
Fraser-Moleketi said Isondlo addresses a need within societies to support future generations.
“As Africa’s largest food manufacturer, we are committed to ensuring food security and sustainable livelihoods, and having marked our centenary last year, postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we find the launch of the programme an appropriate way to celebrate this milestone,” she said.
Dr Stanley Maphosa, interim CEO at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, said their partnership was part of their Child Survival Development and Thriving Programme aimed at improving the mortality rate and the development of children through various interventions.
“Isondlo will allow us to ensure that children in this age group get the proper nutrition they need in order to grow and develop optimally,” said Maphosa.
Tiger Brands’ Isondlo will provide 10 000 monthly food packages or hampers containing food items carefully selected by Tiger Brands’ corporate nutritionist, to child beneficiaries and their families for nine months.
Daily News