FoodForward SA advocacy secures landmark food donation standard for South Africa

In June 2023, FoodForward SA (FFSA) met with the CEO of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Sadhvir Bassoon, and his senior leadership team, to propose the development of a national standard for surplus food donation and redistribution. Bassoon and his team showed strong interest in FFSA’s work and were struck by the fact that more than 10 million tonnes of mostly edible food is lost or wasted across South Africa’s food system each year.

While the SABS were open to developing a voluntary standard for surplus food donation, their protocol required a ballot from food industry partners to determine whether such a standard was necessary. In October 2023, industry stakeholders were canvassed, and the vote was unanimous: South Africa should have a standard for food donations.

At the beginning of January 2024, the SABS Standard Approval Committee approved the scope of work for the new Food Donation and Redistribution Standard. In June 2025, the working committee, comprising various industry stakeholders, including FoodForward SA, convened their first meeting to begin developing the standard. In August 2025, after several meetings and valuable contributions from the working group, the standard was completed. It has since been submitted to the SABS for editing and is expected to be released for public comment by the end of September 2025.

Why this voluntary standard is significant

Globally, food waste accounts for 8–10% of greenhouse gas emissions and around 12% of methane emissions (UNEP, 2021; IPCC, 2023). In South Africa, this global crisis takes on a stark paradox: while 13.8 million people – 25.8% of the population, including 1.76 million children under five – face food insecurity, more than 10 million tonnes of mostly edible food, valued at R61.5bn, is wasted each year due to inefficiencies across the food supply chain.

This milestone standard, shaped through multisectoral collaboration with leading industry stakeholders such as the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) and the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA), will:

• help unlock greater donations of edible surplus food from across the food system
  
• strengthen food safety protocols
  
• enhance traceability
  
• provide clear guidance on the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in the recovery and redistribution of surplus food, and
  
• reduce the climate impacts of food loss and waste as more edible surplus food is diverted from landfills to vulnerable communities.

FoodForward SA’s work, intersecting the food system and food and nutrition security, supports several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). We anticipate that the standard will unlock larger volumes of edible food across the food system. When redirected to underserved communities, this will help advance the SDGs by reducing food insecurity and malnutrition, while building more resilient communities.

Government failure leaves gaps that demand urgent action

The alarming prevalence of food and nutrition insecurity underscores government’s failure to create the necessary conditions for the realisation of the right to food. We do not yet have a Food and Nutrition Security Council, mandated by Parliament in April 2015, formed. We also do not yet have an updated Food and Nutrition Security Plan for South Africa, which was due for implementation in early 2024.

We were also disappointed that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), the national authority responsible for submitting South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, failed to include food loss and waste as a specific mitigation or adaptation target, representing a major missed opportunity.

By neglecting to prioritise food loss and waste reduction, national government undermines climate mitigation efforts and forfeits the opportunity to scale the diversion of edible surplus food from landfills to address widespread food and nutrition insecurity. Given the significant role that food loss and waste play in driving greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion, its omission represents a critical gap in South Africa’s climate commitments.

Considering government’s failure to act decisively, the Food Donation and Redistribution Standard provides food system actors with a clear framework to guide the safe and effective donation of surplus food.

FoodForward SA is proud to have played a pivotal role in driving this breakthrough, which will not only strengthen food security and reduce waste but also help build a more resilient and sustainable food system for South Africa.