Feeding Nutritious meals to Children in our ECD

• Physical & Cognitive Development
  Poor nutrition at the ECD level contributes to stunting (height-for-age), which is not only a physical measure but also correlates with long-term effects on cognitive development, learning ability, health, and future productivity.

• Equity & Access
  Children who attend unregistered ECD centres, or centres without adequate funding, are more likely to miss out on nutrition support. That disproportionately affects low-income families and rural or under-resourced communities.

• Quality & Quantity of Nutrition
  Even where meals are provided, the variety, composition, portion sizes, and nutritional adequacy may vary. There are calls for improved guidelines, more oversight, training for practitioners about nutrition standards in ECD settings. 

• Policy & Funding Gaps
  The subsidy amounts and the portion allocated to nutrition are argued to be insufficient, especially with rising food inflation. Registered status and oversight also matter for eligibility for those subsidies.

• Child nutrition at the ECD level is a critical need in South Africa. There are policy / subsidy mechanisms, but with limitations (registration status, funding amounts, adequacy).

• Private sector / CSR / Foundations (such as Tiger Brands Foundation) already play an important role in providing nutritional support through feeding programmes, breakfasts, food hampers, gardens, etc.

• In your proposals you could reference both the gap (stunting rates, insufficient subsidy for nutrition at ECD level, unregistered ECDs) and the examples of successful corporate or foundation-led programmes (e.g. Tiger Brands’ Isondlo / breakfast programme).

• You may also want to explore whether you can partner or align with such foundations (e.g. Tiger Brands Foundation), or show how your work complements or extends what they already do.

Early childhood development centers (ECDs) in South Africa support children’s physical, mental and emotional development. Rise Against Hunger Africa assists the ECDs by providing Rise Against Hunger meals. The benefits of the donated meals are twofold. First, adequate nutrition is crucial for early childhood development. The Rise Against Hunger meals provided to the young students ensure they have the nutrition needed for their health. 

Second, the nutritious meals generate cost savings for the ECDs. When the centers don’t have to pay out of pocket for food for the children, they are able to put the money saved into improving the school’s infrastructure. This enables them to work toward higher levels of certification to meet the Department of Basic Education standards and obtain proper registration. These standards and registration help the centers receive support from the government, which in turn helps improve resources. Improved resources strengthen the academic opportunities for the children, supporting their education. 

ommunity programs and home-grown school garden projects are also implemented to further support the early childhood development centers and address a multitude of needs for the surrounding communities.  Working alongside the local community, school gardens are established to provide fresh vegetables and fruits to the early childhood development centers and to the community. These fruits and vegetables complement the distributed Rise Against Hunger meals, improving the participants’ quality of life and supporting long-term food security.