The Global FoodBanking Network

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING: GFN provides capability building services through subject matter experts, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and partner engagement and aligns these knowledge services with catalytic financing, with an aim of accelerating food bank social and environmental impact and effectiveness. The focus for knowledge services is determined through organizational assessment and food banking members pursue a multi-year plan to increase organizational effectiveness in targeted ways. GFN provided knowledge resources through a variety of pathways in FY2024 including: - One-to-one advisory services conducted virtually and in person; - Training and experience-sharing at regional meetings held in Asia-Pacific and Africa; - Subject-focused webinars; and - Fellowship exchanges. Common areas for capability building include food safety, logistics and supply chain efficiencies, product sourcing, nonprofit fundraising, governance, and data collection and decision-making. GFN provides services for all Network members but offers concentrated support in 21 markets that are disproportionately impacted by hunger and climate change. In FY2024, food banking organizations in emerging and developing markets increased food distribution by approximately 25% on average.

ACCELERATOR: GFN's Food Bank Accelerator program empowers new food banks to learn from other food banks, expand services, and establish credibility through a cohort approach over three years. They provide 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. The second cohort of theAcceleratorkicked off in FY2024 and consists of three food banks in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines) and five food banks in Africa (Cote D'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Nigeria).

NUTRITION: A strategic focus for GFN is increasing nutritious food distribution. In FY2024, fruits and vegetables accounted for approximately half of all food distributed. GFN helps food banking organizations understand the nutritional make-up of its food distribution, with a focus on micronutrients. It also supports food banks in providing school meals in a variety of countries.

MOBILIZING FOOD SYSTEM ACTION: Food banking organizations make a marked difference in the lives of millions of people and strengthen community and national resilience. They are also agents for change in transforming food systems. In FY2024, GFN united its Network to increase understanding about the importance of connecting food surplus with those in need through targeted engagements to food systems players and national governments. GFN continued its partnership with the Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic on The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas to better understand national legal frameworks to discourage food loss and waste and encourage food redistribution.

CLIMATE AND RESEARCH: Because food banking organizations source food from nutritious food surpluses, food banking has gains for both people and planet. In FY2024, GFN members were estimated to avoid 1.8M tons of CO2e emissions, the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road. To better understand the opportunity to mitigate and adapt to climate change through food banking, GFN began an effort in FY2024 to develop a specific methodology to measure food banking's environmental footprint, with a focus on the role it can play in mitigating methane emissions. This methodology was also piloted at food banking organizations in Ecuador and Mexico.

DISASTER RESPONSE: GFN also helps food banks respond to natural disasters and 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 flooding in Brazil, Ghana, and Kenya, climate-induced famine in Madagascar, and wildfires in Latin America, among others.

AGRICULTURAL RECOVERY: To increase access to nutritious food, in FY2024 GFN continued investments in 10 markets to build surplus recovery from fruit and vegetable growers. Thirty-five million kilograms of produce were recovered through agricultural recovery programs, which prevents fruits and vegetables from being lost on-farm or postharvest.