A charitable institution run with a business mentality is proving that hunger can be overcome, Sherine Nasr reports The right to food is perhaps the simplest and most essential of all human rights. Unfortunately, this plain fact is easier said than done. But not for the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB), a non-profit foundation that started in 2005 and has grown in size to turn into a profitable investment aiming at feeding the poor and vulnerable across the nation. "Of all man's basic needs, we defined the need for food as the most urgent," said Reda Sukkar, EFB executive director who together with a group of businessmen and university professors walked the extra mile to provide an answer to the hunger problem in a sustainable and well-organised manner. It was normal that the start should be made in Upper Egypt, known to be the least privileged area of the nation. "A market survey was conducted in order to define whom to target and what basic requirements to offer," said Sukkar. Although EFB's network has grown over the years to include different groups of people, two main categories remain at the core of the mission's interest: first, those who are incapable of providing for themselves, including the sick, the old, orphans, the disabled and widows. These are entitled to 100 per cent monthly food supply by the EFB. The other category includes those with a fixed income that can hardly afford their food requirements. "It is important to note that we don't work with individuals but with NGOs," said Sukkar, adding that EFB is currently involved with some 900 NGOs in 29 governorates. Starting in 2005 with around 30,000 families, the , each containing 12 basic dry food supplies used daily by every Egyptian family, including rice, sugar, legumes, cooking oil and canned vegetables with meat. "These are distributed totally for free. Each NGO has a set date to receive its stock and distribution is done in the presence of an EFB representative, to make sure that the bags reach the needy." The process has encouraged many NGOs to meet the standards set by the EFB in order to become permanent clients. Being an officially registered NGO, to be able to conduct a case study and manage accounts are some of other conditions set by the EFB in order to deliver its service to the NGOs. "Those who meet most of these conditions will receive the bags only on social and religious occasions. Meanwhile, the EFB provides those NGOs with the technical assistance required in order to comply with our criteria. It is then that they receive the bags on a monthly basis," said Sukkar. The good news is that the EFB is for all Egyptians. "Religious beliefs are not part of the bargain. We are targeting Egyptians at large regardless of their religious inclinations or geographical destinations," said Sukkar. The EFB's green logo for labelling foodstuffs has proved a good tool in gaining the confidence of Egyptian villagers, many of whom are now willing to send their girls to illiteracy eradication classes offered by EFB volunteers, an initiative that added another important social service to the various tasks taken on by the organisation. Since the very beginning, the mission has ignited the interest of businessmen, many willing to provide for the service either in cash or in kind. "As our activities has grown beyond our expectations. The amounts of dry food we receive as donations could hardly meet our needs. Therefore, we decided to apply for the market to purchase the commodities," said Sukkar, adding that the EFB has developed 11 departments, including quality control, market survey and follow up, and commodity purchasing. "We deal only with major traders. We choose the best price offer and the commodity has to comply with our specifications," said Sukkar. Contributions by an increasing number of benevolent donors cover for expenses. Donations in kind are turned down if they don't meet the same specifications. While the battle against hunger has continued successfully, and tons of dry food commodities poured into the food bank, to continue to load the packages manually -- a process that required hundreds of people and caused the waste of some of the donations -- was in the end too much. This month, the EFB inaugurated "Hedeya", a state-of-the-art packaging factory that will be operating for the next six months over a donated stretch of land before it moves to its permanent location in New Cairo City. The new factory contains eight production lines to package dry food (rice, sugar, rice, beans, etc...) with a production capacity of 1.5 tons per hour. "To run the business in a sustainable manner, the factory is open to those willing to package their products. The revenue will be directed to service the different activities of the food bank," said Sukkar. Along five years of productive work, the EFB has managed to acquire ISO 9001-2000 in 2008 and is seeking to acquire ISO 22000 related to food safety. By so doing, the EFB is perhaps the first NGO in the Middle East to operate according to the professional standards of normal food companies. Within the framework of providing food for the hungry, the EFB has developed variable options for those who are willing to donate in cash. For example, "The Era of Bountifulness" is a programme where donors can pay money to support a family of one, three or five members with foodstuffs for six months and up to one year. "A Hunger-Free Village" is another initiative where multinational companies are entrusted with the task of feeding one of the poorest villages (there are at least 1,000 villages that have been defined as the poorest in the country) as part of their corporate social responsibility. On the public awareness front, the EFB has concluded a deal with the Egyptian Hotel Association by virtue of which big hotels and fast food chains donate readymade meals using excess food not sold. The packages are delivered immediately to the nearest NGO by the hotel or restaurant. Many big names in the field of fast food have become permanent clients, while TNT has taken responsibility for transporting the packages. "This initiative represents one of the largest social involvements in the process of feeding the poor. We started with delivering one million meals per month. The number has jumped to 18 million meals per month at a cost of LE20 each," said Sukkar. At present, the EFB's symphony of social solidarity is led by a board of businessmen, 150 full time employees, 6,000 volunteers and tens of thousands of benevolent individuals and socially responsible companies.
