FOOD INSECURITY MEETS ITS NEMESIS IN GENESIS

 Millions of children around the world are malnourished. A recent United Nations report highlights the dangers posed by the inadequate pace of progress in halving child stunting and reducing the number of low birthweight babies. This, the global body says, is one of the major factors limiting the chances of achieving one of the crucial sustainable development goals.

A bleak picture for millions of people

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, a 2019 UN report, paints a bleak picture of the status quo. More people are suffering from hunger today than ten years ago, it states. In addition, despite nearly a decade of progress, the number of people suffering from hunger has slowly increased to approximately one in nine people world-wide. This means more than 820 million people across the globe are still going hungry.

A WWF report on agri-food systems in South Africa depicts an equally discouraging local scenario. Despite the fact that access to food and adequate nutrition is a right enshrined in the Constitution, hunger is still rampant and food access remains a daily struggle for more than 12 million South Africans.

Experts identify the following factors as contributing to the worsening of the dilemma: high levels of poverty, increasing urbanisation, growing dependence on store-bought food and the reliance of many lesser privileged households on social grants, making consumers more vulnerable to price shocks.

“There is a growing consensus that this situation poses a major threat to public health, and that its greatest impact is on the poor, who are often the most food insecure,” the report warns.

A game-changing local solution

In South Africa, one ground-breaking product is making strides in conquering this global scourge, one double-pack meal at a time.

The GENESIS range of nutritional products was borne out of the need to provide nutritious healthy meals to workers in various industries including mining, security, transport and agriculture. The product was developed by a team of South African scientists over a period of two years, complying with the latest research standards and containing 55 key nutrients.

GENESIS products are manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility using the latest food technology and does not contain common allergens such as wheat, gluten, eggs, nuts or lactose.

Founder, Michelle Bristow says the GENESIS team soon realised their product could make a major contribution to the alleviation of hunger. “Poverty in South Africa forces many families to live under extreme conditions, sometimes with no clean water or energy. Our all-in-one-meal with purified water aims to bring a new solution to South Africa and the world,” she explains.

Says Bristow, “I believe the key to our game-changing food security contribution lies in our uniquely developed formulation that produces immune-supporting and nutritionally balanced meals as well as purified water”. GENESIS provides the opportunity to provide proper nutrition to a large number of people, especially in poorer communities and disaster areas.

Experts warn that if local food security challenges are not adequately addressed, the problem is likely to reach disastrous proportions by 2050, when South Africa is expected to have a population of 73 million, requiring double the current production capacity to adequately feed everyone.