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LFBI secures N115 million private intervention

By Benjamin Alade
09 December 2020   |   1:19 am
The Lagos Food Bank Initiative (LFBI) has received N115 million from a private organisation to mitigate hunger through the provision of meals to the less privileged, especially those adversely affected by Coronavirus pandemic.

The Lagos Food Bank Initiative (LFBI) has received N115 million from a private organisation to mitigate hunger through the provision of meals to the less privileged, especially those adversely affected by Coronavirus pandemic.

The donation came from Beiersdorf, the manufacturer of Nivea products. The donation is part of its regional partnership with the Global Food Banking Network (GFN) and was carried out under Beiersdorf’s ‘Care Beyond Skin’ corporate social investment.

The partnership seeks to impact over 350,000 beneficiaries, including 4,000 schoolchildren in 20 schools per month, vulnerable, expectant mothers, infants as well as children who are malnourished and living in underserved communities in Lagos state.

As part of the 12 month-long partnership, Beiersdorf and the LFBI will fund the Education Enhancement Intervention for Food Insecure Students (EduFood), a school feeding programme that started in March, 2020 where LFBI provided food parcels to 12 primary schools in Lagos and 2,400 school children and their families.

Another arm of the COVID-19 Community Intervention program is the 16-month Nutritious Meal Plan Intervention for vulnerable mothers and children, a project that focuses on expectant mothers and infants.

“There is also the Family Farming Programme, designed to create a food and agricultural system that is managed and operated by a family and relies on partnership labor to increase the quality of life,” the organisation said.

With the donation, LFBI also aims to build its capacity through improved service to its existing beneficiary base, increase service scale exponentially by increasing warehouse capacity and locations.

According to Godwin Harrison, Country Manager (Nigeria), Beiersdorf, “Food banks are powerful interventions, which change lives and communities. They are an interconnected lifeline to the hungry and equip communities to feed themselves. We as Beiersdorf recognize the importance of strengthening food banks as it fosters resilience and enhances the community’s capability to fight hunger long term.”

Food banking works by collecting surplus food from various entities such as farms, grocery retailers, food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and hospitality organisations as well as government and consumers. Food is collected at food banks and is thereafter distributed to community service organizations that deliver onwards to hungry people.

LFBI Founder, Michael Sunbola, said the donation would enable it to reach more beneficiaries that require nutrition at this crucial time. He said this would enhance its capacity to support food security resilience in COVID-19 emergency and recovery activities in the country.

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