Role of Food 4 Africa

Food4Africa™ is a charity company that raises funds to enhance the development of children within the rural communities, squatter camps and townships of South and Southern Africa.

Our vision sees the rural poverty stricken children of South and Southern Africa have the opportunity to develop a healthy immune system and brain by the age of twelve so that they can contribute constructively to a sustainable future for all.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic touches every cornerstone of South and Southern Africa’s existence.The Treatment for Action Campaign states that in South Africa 1000 people per day are infected with the HIV virus, UNAIDS reports in their feedback report November 2005, that

  • 25.8 million adults and children are estimated to be living with HIV in 2005 in Sub Saharan Africa.
  • The total number of people infected worldwide stands at 40.3 million.
  • 3.2 million adults and children became newly infected with HIV during 2005 in Sub Saharan Africa.
  • 4.9 million people worldwide became infected with HIV during 2005
  • 2.4 million adults and children died from AIDS during 2005
  • 3.1 million People died worldwide from AIDS.

With the staggering death toll that HIV/AIDS takes, it’s easy to overlook the challenges faced by the people the disease leaves behind. These survivors include children who will become a generation of orphans as the pandemic stretches into the first three decades of the 21st century. These orphans, the vast majority of whom are HIV-negative, are at enormous risk of growing up without adequate health care, food, education, or emotional support.

The response to the orphan crisis is growing. But it lacks the necessary urgency and remains unfocussed and limited in scope. Thousands of community-based programmes have been implemented by faith-based and non-governmental organisations as well as communities themselves to protect the rights and ensure the well-being of orphans, but opportunities for significant expansion have not yet been grasped. There is also concern that many of these responses are reactive in nature and regard children as ‘helpless victims’, providing only immediate and limited support, such as handouts of food and clothing.

According to The World Bank, education of children and youth merits the highest priority in a world afflicted by HIV/AIDS. This is because a good basic education ranks among the most effective—and cost-effective—means of HIV prevention. It also merits priority because the very education system that supplies a nation’s future is being gravely threatened by the epidemic, particularly in areas of high or rising HIV prevalence. Thus countries face an urgent need to strengthen their education systems, which offer a window of hope unlike any other for escaping the grip of HIV/AIDS. Vigorous pursuit of Education for All (EFA) goals is imperative, along with education aimed at HIV prevention.

If the first few years are vital for learning, the nine months before birth and the first five years of life are probably the most important for health.Good diet and sound nutrition are essential for learning. If 50% of the ability to learn is developed in the first four years of life and another 30% by the age of eight, then early childhood development should be a top priority.

For more information on Food4Africa’s™ or on how you can get involved, please contact Barbara@food4africa.org.