The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) has called for closer cooperation between government, industry, civil society and consumers to address food-safety incidents, food insecurity and food waste.
The call was made on Tuesday at the CGCSA Food Safety and Sustainability Seminar in Johannesburg, held to coincide with the United Nations’ International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on September 29.
The seminar brought together representatives from business, government, academia and civil society to discuss the impact of climate change on food systems, ways to reduce food loss and waste, and the role of innovation and technology in improving food security and environmental sustainability.
CGCSA co-chair Gareth Ackerman said reducing food loss and waste was one of the most practical interventions available to improve food security and strengthen resilience across the food value chain.
“South Africa faces a profound contradiction. While our country has the capacity to produce sufficient food, millions of South Africans continue to experience food insecurity while significant volumes of food are lost or wasted from farm to fork every year,” he said.
Ackerman said climate change was increasing pressure on food systems, with extreme weather events affecting agricultural production, food safety, affordability and household food security.
He said recent forecasts of a severe El Niño cycle highlighted the need for urgent, coordinated action to improve the resilience of South Africa’s food system.
“We are already starting to see the effects of El Niño and we are headed for some hard times, especially in the Western Cape. This will impact food security in South Africa and across the continent. If we don’t get adequate rain in the maize-growing areas, we will have a big problem and we have to plan for it,” he said.
Ackerman said food-waste management should no longer be viewed solely as an environmental issue.
“Food waste is a food-security issue, an economic issue and a social responsibility. Every tonne of food that is wasted represents wasted land, water, energy, labour and investment. More importantly, it represents a missed opportunity to help feed vulnerable households and communities,” he said.
He called for the government to work with the consumer-goods sector and other stakeholders to address food waste.
“We are not enemies; we should not work in silos. The government should be responsive and not reactive. Industry must not throw food away when people are starving. We need to change regulations to allow food to be donated and also deal with illicit food entering the market,” he said.
CGCSA said the seminar also reviewed progress by the South African Food Loss and Waste Initiative, launched in 2020 to bring together stakeholders across the food value chain and support the global goal of halving food waste by 2030.
Participants highlighted the importance of expanding food-recovery and redistribution efforts, while addressing regulatory barriers that may discourage food donations.
Ackerman said many businesses remained concerned about legal uncertainty when donating safe surplus food. He called for discussions on measures that would encourage responsible food donations while maintaining high food-safety standards.
CGCSA said the seminar also focused on protecting consumers through proactive food-safety, nutrition and waste-management governance.
The organisation said climate shifts were creating emerging microbiological and supply-chain risks. It added that it was working to improve standards, regulatory alignment with global benchmarks and technical capacity among small, medium-sized and large food businesses.
CGCSA said these efforts complemented public-health initiatives, including the Healthy Food Options Industry Initiative. It said food security could not be achieved without safe, nutritious, affordable and accessible food.
The seminar concluded with calls for:
- Government to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment for food recovery, responsible food donations and digital innovation.
- Industry to invest in food-safety measures, waste prevention, redistribution, traceability and circular-economy solutions.
- Civil-society organisations to strengthen partnerships connecting safe surplus food with vulnerable communities.
- Consumers to reduce food waste and make informed purchasing decisions, including through digital information tool
yogashen.pillay@nationlmg.co,za