A mother and child hold a meal of rice, vegetables, and tempeh provided by Scholars of Sustenance Thailand. SOS Thailand recovers surplus produce and prepares nutritious meals for the community through their Rescue Kitchen program. (Photo: Scholars of Sustenance Thailand)
Farmers stand in the Good Food Farm in Magdalena. Operated by Rise Against Hunger Philippines, the farm was established to boost local food security and nutrition, provide job opportunities, and practice sustainable land management. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Pau Villanueva)
Volunteers and staff from Kechara Soup Kitchen provide basic education to children of the indigenous Orang Asli community in Kuala Tahan, Malaysia. In addition to preparing the children for formal school, the food bank distributes monthly food parcels to families. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Annice Lyn)
A young girl enjoys breakfast at Tereo Mission School, a nonprofit organization in Helderberg, South Africa. Breakfast and lunch at the school is provided by GFN member food bank FoodForward SA. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Anna Lusty)
A young girl enjoys breakfast at Tereo Mission School, a nonprofit organization in Helderberg, South Africa. Breakfast and lunch at the school is provided by GFN member food bank FoodForward SA. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Anna Lusty)
A mother and child hold a meal of rice, vegetables, and tempeh provided by Scholars of Sustenance Thailand. SOS Thailand recovers surplus produce and prepares nutritious meals for the community through their Rescue Kitchen program. (Photo: Scholars of Sustenance Thailand)
Farmers stand in the Good Food Farm in Magdalena. Operated by Rise Against Hunger Philippines, the farm was established to boost local food security and nutrition, provide job opportunities, and practice sustainable land management. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Pau Villanueva)
Volunteers and staff from Kechara Soup Kitchen provide basic education to children of the indigenous Orang Asli community in Kuala Tahan, Malaysia. In addition to preparing the children for formal school, the food bank distributes monthly food parcels to families. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Annice Lyn)
1
A Message from Our CEO
Dear Partner,
I am pleased to share our FY2023 Annual Report with you, which highlights the strategies and results of our work from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
In the fall of 2022, we launched an ambitious four-year strategic plan that aims to build community resilience, increase availability of nutritious food for millions of people, and leverage our Network to play a vital role in addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty around the world. We continue to strive toward our North Star Goal of reaching 50 million people worldwide by 2030. It won’t be easy. GFN and our food bank partners continue to face volatile and difficult conditions, but I am encouraged by the incredible service our food bank partners continue to provide and their determination to find local solutions to global challenges.
We are making significant progress to increase access to nutritious foods and connect people to essential services. Last year, our Network served approximately 32 million people facing hunger and reached more people in emerging and developing markets than ever before. The Network distributed more than 630 million kilograms of food, while working with 51,000 local agencies to provide the people they serve with important social services like education, health care, and job skill development.
We continue to strengthen the Network by championing innovation and improvement. It is more important than ever that food banking organizations learn from each other and scale proven solutions. Last year, our Network shared insights and knowledge to support rapid uptake in agricultural development through peer-to-peer exchanges in Honduras, Israel, Kenya, and Nigeria; focused on financial sustainability models at our Africa Food Bank Conference; and explored the power of resiliency and harnessing technologies at our leadership summit in Mexico City.
On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, thank you for choosing to invest in GFN and the food banking model—this work is only possible with your support. I hope that this report showcases the power of our Network, and the tremendous impact your partnership has on people and communities around the globe.
Because at the end of the day, food banks serve so much more than food. Food banks serve people; they strengthen communities, reduce food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase access to vital social services that move families and individuals out of poverty and create a brighter, healthier future.
Sincerely,
Lisa Moon
President and CEO
Food Banking Kenya is a living testimony of what The Global FoodBanking Network is doing to bring up food banks in Africa. With the technical and financial assistance and referrals to donors and partners, I can tell you for sure, without GFN, Food Banking Kenya would not be where we are today."
John Gathungu
Chief Executive Officer Food Banking Kenya
Food Banking Kenya staff and volunteers recover surplus produce from a small-scale farm. The produce is distributed to local communities, reducing food waste and alleviating hunger. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Brian Otieno)
The greatest value I see in [GFN’s]
Knowledge Networks is the many
innovative solutions that have come
out of generating ideas with peers, and
how these solutions can be adapted for
different situations."
Carol Mérida
Manager of Donations and New Projects Desarrollo en Movimiento (Guatemala)
Staff members from Mano Amiga, an educational institution that serves families in need, assemble a food kit of fresh fruits and vegetables. Every week, Desarrollo en Movimiento distributes fresh fruits and vegetables, dry food products, and other staples to the organization. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Claudio Vasquez Bianchi)
GFN’s support continues to be
instrumental to achieving our goal of
providing nutritious meals with dignity
to all. It’s all part of our vision for the
future—for No Food Waste, and for
our country."
Padmanaban Gopalan
Founder No Food Waste (India)
Residents of St. Joseph's eldercare home are served lunch by Sister Celine. The home receives hot meals prepared by Aruna Devi women's self-help kitchen, in partnership with GFN member No Food Waste in Coimbatore, India. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Narayana Swamy Subbaraman)
2
Our Mission:
to nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.
Our Vision:
a world free of hunger.
Naomi Achieno, an employee at Westrift Farm, harvests beans that will be donated to Food Banking Kenya. The surplus produce is distributed to local communities, reducing food waste and alleviating hunger in Kenya. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Brian Otieno)
3
The Global FoodBanking Network is a strong and growing community of member organizations working
across the globe to get food to people who need it; to build stronger, more resilient communities; and
to create equitable, sustainable food systems for a healthier planet.
Last Year,
2.4
billion people
faced food insecurity and
735
million people>
were affected by chronic hunger.
75
percent of GFN member countries
experienced climate-related natural disaster, and
35
percent
experienced significant civil unrest.
Our food bank partners were there, every step of the way.
Nutritionist Cinara de Abreu prepares a meal at The Association Casa de Acolhimento Lar Maanaim, an organization that serves children and youth. They receive food from Mesa Brasil–SESC. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Carlos Macedo)
Viviana García, warehouse assistant at Bancos de Alimentos de México Puebla, poses in a carrot field with produce getting ready to be donated. The farm frequently donates to the food bank, which has been in operation for more than 28 years. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Luis Antonio Rojas)
In 2022...
49
GFN member food bank organizations distributed
651
million
kilograms of food, through
51,000
community partners, with the help of
406,000
volunteers.
32
million
people in
44
countries across
6
continents received nutritious food and other vital services.
Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of
GFN members across the globe, food banks
are playing an increasingly important role in
providing essential social services; reducing food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions; and
creating healthier, more resilient communities.
The Global FoodBanking Network partners are ...
Community leaders and systems thinkers.
Connectors and advocates.
Counselors and teachers.
Farmers and gardeners.
Chefs and nutritionists.
Waste reducers and planet protectors.
Food champions and change makers.
All working tirelessly to provide food and
support to their communities and to create food
systems that work for everyone, everywhere.
Eusebio Soto Gervacio, logistics and perishable goods agent at Bancos de Alimentos de México Zapotlanejo, poses for a portrait while carrying food packages out of the truck at the distribution point. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Luis Antonio Rojas)
5
Our Impact
Reaching New Communities
GFN supports the expansion of the food bank model in places with high instances of food insecurity, insufficient social protections, and few existing food banks—like parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. We walk local leaders and social entrepreneurs through the steps to launch a food bank, from assessing community needs to determining resource availability, to planning, building capital, and beyond. Once a new food bank is established and proving viable, we work with them to continue to grow and expand. This year, five new food banks—Aksata Pangan Food Bank of Medan (Indonesia), The Lost Food Project (Malaysia), SimplyShare Foundation (Phillipines), No Hunger Food Bank (Nigeria), and Mapendo Banque Alimentaire, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo)—moved from New Food Bank Development into our Food Bank Accelerator program.
Supporting Growing Food Banks
GFN’s Food Bank Accelerator program empowers young food banks to learn from other food banks, expand services, and establish credibility. The program also provides technical and financial support, mentoring, peer-to-peer connections, and partnership opportunities that might otherwise be unavailable to partners establishing operations in areas where the food banking model is relatively unknown. Our Food Bank Accelerator program’s first cohort consisted of 13 food banks, located in Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. GFN is currently recruiting participants for the next iteration of the program.
In 2022 ...
18.4 million kilograms
of food and grocery products were distributed by food banks in the Accelerator program, a 32 percent increase over the previous year.
33 percent more people
were served by GFN food bank partners in developing or emerging markets on average over the previous year.
Brenda Njeri, a volunteer with Food Banking Kenya, holds bananas while sorting produce in the food bank warehouse. Food Banking Kenya recovers surplus food and distributes it to communities experiencing hunger. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Brian Otieno)
GFN is so important to the work that we do, first, to amplify our work, to build capacity. Between 2018, when GFN found us, and now, we’ve really scaled. We’ve built capacity and personnel as well. Everything has really grown for us."
Michael Sunbola
Executive Director
Lagos Food Bank Initiative
(Nigeria)
Nutritious meals and snacks are provided to schoolchildren through Lagos Food Bank Initiative's Education Enhancement Intervention for Food Insecure Students program. The program improves school enrollment and attendance and supports healthy growth and development in Nigeria. (Photo: Lagos Food Bank Initiative)
Lagos Food Bank Initiative in Nigeria is making significant progress in their hunger alleviation efforts. In 2022, the food bank distributed four times the amount of food and grocery products compared to 2019, up from 50,000 kilograms to almost 400,000, thanks to shared learning and experiences from peer food banks.
Our Impact
Rising to the Cost-Of-Living Challenge
Compounding, interrelated crises around
the globe have led to a cost-of-living crisis.
With the rising cost of food, fuel, and
fertilizer, more people than ever struggle
to afford a nutritious diet. In response,
our food bank partners are finding new
and underutilized ways to recover more
nutritious food and distribute it to
more people.
Our Network provides so much more than food. Food banks help fill in the gaps for our neighbors who are struggling. Our food bank members create stronger, healthier communities by partnering with local schools, food pantries, community kitchens, and shelters to provide specialized services such as housing, workforce development, health care, education, and counseling. These services can take many forms, from school feeding programs and health clinics to nutrition classes and job training programs. Food banks also act as strong advocates for vital social services and anti-poverty efforts at the local level.
Two men from Tkiyet Um Ali, GFN’s member food bank in Jordan, deliver food to people experiencing hunger. The organization is working toward its vision of a Jordan without hunger. (Photo: Tkiyet Um Ali)
In 2022 ...
51,000 local agencies
partnered with a GFN food bank organization to provide food as well as vital services like education, mental health support, workforce development, housing, and more.
400,000+ volunteers
gave their time and talents to support a food bank partner in their local community.
In addition to food bank programs, Kechara Soup Kitchen Society provides medical aid, empowerment and nutrition programs, and school feeding initiatives. My proudest moment is when I get to see people coming out of our system and leaving the poverty cycle because of the services and support we provided them."
Justin Cheah
Director of Operations, Kechara Soup Kitchen (Malaysia)
Children who live in the indigenous community Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Temon, Malaysia, attend a nutrition education class organized by Kechara Soup Kitchen. The food bank partners with an educational center to provide mathematics, art, and nutrition classes for children and distributes weekly parcels with produce and dry goods to attendees. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Annice Lyn)
Kechara Soup Kitchen provides support for many social services programs, including classes for the children that live in the indigenous community Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Temon. The food bank partners with an educational center to provide mathematics, art, and nutrition classes for children and distributes parcels with produce and dry goods to attendees. This program improves academic outcomes and economic opportunities for the community.
Extreme weather events, war, and conflict are significantly impacting our food systems and food security. Food banks are often among the first responders in times of crisis. GFN helps food banks prepare for emergencies with specialized technical assistance, advising members through disaster response plans, and providing financial support. Last year, our food bank partners provided food, supplies, and critical support to their communities in times of emergency like the deadly earthquakes in Türkiye, drought conditions in the Horn of Africa, wildfires in Latin America, and ongoing war in Ukraine, among others.
In 2022 ...
1.5 billion kilograms
of CO2 equivalent were avoided, the equivalent of taking 336,000 cars off the road for a year.
65 percent of food
was sourced or recovered locally, reducing waste and minimizing the environmental footprint.
Sara Martínez, a volunteer, carries donated vegetables to be classified and distributed at Banco de Alimentos Quito warehouse in Ecuador. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Ana María Buitron)
Each disaster creates more vulnerable communities. Food banks know their community and how to respond to their needs. That's why food banks are really important to [emergency] response work."
Hande Tibuk
President, TIDER (Türkiye)
TIDER staff and volunteers established warehouses to organize and distribute emergency food and supplies for communities affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey (Türkiye) and northern Syria on February 6, 2023. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Next Level Dijital)
TIDER food bank in Türkiye provided temporary housing units for people displaced by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023. GFN provided emergency disaster funds to support their work in the region. TIDER, like many food banks around the world, serves as a key member of the country’s NGO emergency response network, as the logistics chains and infrastructure of the food bank network are an efficient pipeline for the distribution of food and other humanitarian assistance.
Our Impact
Increasing Access to Healthy Foods
We’re not just getting food on the tables of people who need it most. We’re making sure that food is more nutritious, more diverse, and more accessible. Member food banks do this through agricultural recovery programs that source fresh, local produce; on-staff nutritionists; workshops and cooking classes; infrastructure investments like cold storage; and school meal programs that provide consistent access to food for children during critical stages of growth and development. Last year, 24 GFN member food banks reported offering on-site staff or volunteer nutritionists.
Partnering to Reduce Food Loss and Waste
Nearly a third of the world’s food is lost or wasted at the post-harvest, retail, and consumer levels, never reaching the people who need it. Food loss and waste proves costly for producers, takes up space in landfills, and emits harmful greenhouse gases, intensifying climate change. In fact, 8 to 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by food loss and waste. Food banks offer a business solution to this problem—partnering with producers to recover wholesome surplus food and redirecting it to people facing hunger. GFN and our partners work hard to build these partnerships and create sustainable food systems.
Community members receive meal kits provided by Feeding India's Feed the Daily Wager program. Monthly food parcels are distributed to people who earn a daily wage and have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Feeding India)
In 2022 ...
386 million kilograms of food
distributed came from the recovery or donation of foods that otherwise would have gone to waste.
60 percent of the food distributed
by our partners was comprised of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables, grains, dairy products, and animal protein.
Banco de Alimentos de Honduras works to ensure that the food we receive contains the nutrients essential for a healthy lifestyle. We developed programs to deliver healthy lunches to more than 800 children in nine communities and strengthen education in food and nutritional security."
Eduardo Andrade
Social Management and Nutrition Coordinator,
Banco de Alimentos de Honduras
Regina Vásquez returns home with fresh produce and food supplies from Banco de Alimentos de Honduras. The food bank partners with the social organization Movimiento de Ayuda Social Juan XXIII in Tegucigalpa to distribute food to people experiencing economic hardships. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/Delmer Membreño)
Banco de Alimentos de Honduras (BAH) is leading the way on food bank nutrition efforts. More than 70 percent of all food distributed by BAH in 2022 met key nutrition goals (fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy products, and animal proteins). Much of this increase—up from 54 percent in 2021—was due to the food bank’s agricultural recovery program, in which they partner with small-scale farmers to collect fresh food to distribute to people facing hunger.
6
Advancing Food Banking
A core part of our work—strengthening and advancing food banks around the world—happens through
convening food banks, partners, and thought leaders to share best practices and improve peer-to-peer
collaboration; engaging on an international level to elevate the work of our partners; and acting as a
collective voice for our Network to increase the visibility of, and advocacy for, food systems transformation
across the globe.
Advocating for Policy Change
As part of an ongoing partnership with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) on The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, we released two new issue briefs highlighting best practices and policy recommendations to clarify food safety rules for donation and improve food waste deterrence. These briefs complement a series of five in-depth resources that FLPC and GFN have produced to provide countries around the world with insight into the major legal issue areas impacting food donation. In addition to the issue briefs, GFN and FLPC launched food policy donation recommendations in Australia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ecuador, Ghana, China, Paraguay, and Israel this year.
Aova Berthine and her classmates eat a meal in a classroom of the public primary school. Banque Alimentaire de Madagascar (BAM) provides the school with rice, beans, and gari purchased from smallholder farmers. The goal of BAM’s school feeding program is to improve the nutrition of schoolchildren while also boosting local economies for farmers. (Photo: The Global FoodBanking Network/iAko Randrianarivelo)
Policies that encourage food donation and prevent food waste ensure that safe and nutritious food reaches people who are hungry, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help build a more sustainable and equitable food system. Our issue briefs share widely applicable and proven policy options from around the globe that can help jump-start action to address these complex but manageable problems."
Emily Broad Leib
Faculty Director, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic
Year One of a New Strategic Plan
FY2023 marked the first full year of our FY2023-2026 strategic plan. Every step brings us
closer to a world where more communities are fed, less food is wasted, and all food systems
are sustainable. As we look toward the next two years of the plan, we will continue to build
member resilience and effectiveness, expand the reach and depth of impact in targeted areas,
and leverage food banking to strengthen food systems.
Board members and food bankers from Peru, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina, and GFN staff harvest lettuce from a farm in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina during the GFN board meeting in October 2022. (Photo: Florencia Daniel)
Welcoming New Board Leadership
GFN welcomed four new board members and the new leadership of Carol Criner as board chair and Sachin Gupta as vice chair, bringing new ideas and energy to our work. We are so grateful for all of our dedicated, passionate board members who lend their time, talents, and expertise to advancing our mission.
Carol Criner, chair of GFN’s board of directors, addresses the audience at the annual Food Bank Leadership Institute in Mexico City in March 2023. (The Global FoodBanking Network/Ken Jones)
It is deeply moving to see firsthand the impact that food banks have on the community. Food banks do
much more than offer emergency food assistance; they strengthen communities for generations to
come."
GFN was thrilled to return to in-person gatherings with our flagship annual event, the
Food
Bank Leadership Institute (FBLI) in Mexico City. In collaboration with food bank member Red
de Bancos de Alimentos de México, FBLI convened more than 350 people from 50 countries
to share expertise to discuss “Food Banking in an Age of Volatility” and address food
insecurity and food systems issues.
Our Second Africa Food Bank Conference
More than 30 food bank leaders from seven African countries met in Kenya for the Africa Food Bank Conference to exchange best practices and initiate big ideas on food and product sourcing, fundraising and volunteering, and impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.
Attendees at the Food Bank Leadership Institute (FBLI) in Mexico City participate in a small group discussion on food banking in Africa. GFN convened FBLI for the first time in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2023. FBLI convened food bank leaders, industry partners, and thought leaders to achieve a shared mission: helping food banks alleviate hunger, reduce food waste, and respond to community needs in the face of global challenges. (Photo: Ken Jones Photography)
What was most interesting about the [Africa Food Bank Conference] was it created
a sense of synergy among the food banks all working together to achieve this global
vision of a world free of hunger. It helped create an even stronger space for African
food bank leaders to exchange ideas about challenges and opportunities. During
my interaction with each food bank leader, I was able to ask for advice on how they
managed to overcome similar challenges."
Zenawi Naigzi Woldetensay
Executive Director, It Rains Food Bank of Ethiopia
Launch of a New GFN Website
In January 2023, GFN launched our new website, making it easier to find information, research,
resources, and stories about the important role that locally led food banks play in strengthening our
food systems—and how we can help them do even more.
7
Our Network
GFN food bank partners work across six continents in more than 50 countries. Thirty-six of our 49 partner food
banks are in emerging or developing markets, and we continue to expand our Network to reach even
more people around the world.
*FY2023 New Food Bank Development Program participant; data from these food banks is not included in “Our Impact.”
8
Our Generous Supporters
Thank you to our generous FY2023 partners who are powering locally led solutions to hunger,
and creating stronger, more resilient communities across the globe.
At John Deere, we’ve long known that equitable access to safe and nutritious food is the first requisite for a life well lived. We are proud to support The Global FoodBanking Network as it works to build and strengthen both food banks as well as the food systems on which millions depend for nourishment and dignity."
Laura Eberlin
Global Corporate Social Responsibility Lead, Community Engagement & Enrichment, John Deere
The Lineage Foundation for Good works with our partners and team members every day to leverage Lineage’s one-of-a-kind scale and unique logistics expertise to fight food insecurity in our communities and reduce food waste across global supply chains. Working with food banks and partners like The Global FoodBanking Network ensures people have access to safe, affordable, high-quality food and is a vital part of addressing the challenge of having efficient and effective food logistics systems. We are just getting started on this journey and our team’s passion and commitment to innovation is making a lasting difference in communities around the globe."
Christine Rees-Zecha
President and Board Chairperson, Lineage Foundation for Good
Today, millions of families across the world are struggling to put food on the table, while one-third of all food is lost or wasted. Food banks are needed now more than ever. We are thrilled to support The Global FoodBanking Network in its efforts to increase food access for people facing hunger in the short-term, while building longer-term community resilience. Together, we are pursuing our common objective of nourishing the world’s hungry."
Catherine Bertini
Managing Director, Global Nutrition Security, The Rockefeller Foundation
The work GFN is undertaking is pivotal in promoting methane mitigation through food loss prevention, recovery, and redistribution. We believe that the methodology and technologies being piloted in food banks for measuring methane mitigation will serve as a catalyst for promoting new policies and economic assessments of food banks' financial models. This collaboration will demonstrate that food loss and waste recovery and redistribution are cost-effective solutions that must be harnessed to address methane mitigation."
Marcelo Mena-Carrasco, M.S., Ph.D.
The Global Methane Hub
As the world’s largest food bank network, GFN is uniquely positioned to have massive impact across the globe. Our partnership with GFN has been a mutually beneficial relationship because they’ve helped us inform how we at PIMCO address hunger. They’ve been incredible resources in terms of building advocacy within our organization and, in return, we have complemented our grants intentionally with skills-based volunteering, making this a very powerful partnership."
Nate Brown
Director, The PIMCO Foundation
General Mills has been a proud partner of The Global FoodBanking Network for over 15 years. We deeply believe in the power of food banks and that they play a vital role in addressing food security globally, while at the same time tackling the food loss and waste issue. Food should be used for nourishing people and that is why GFN is such an important partner for us."
Amie Kegler
Associate Manager, Global Impact Initiatives, General Mills
Vicki Clarke
Secretary Vice President, Development
Michael Oko
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
10
Our FY2023 Financial Overview
We close FY2023 in strong financial health. Our organization received an unqualified opinion on our
annual audit. Please find the following information on how we are stewarding donor investments to
advance global hunger relief through food banking. Information is drawn from our audited financials for
the years FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023, which are available at foodbanking.org.