Tiger Brands : Household and Community Food Garden Initiative

Tiger Brands Media Announcement

6 April 2018

Tiger Brands Household and Community Food Garden Initiative distributes 500 Gardens for Homes to the Mohlakeng Community

Tiger Brands continues to intensify efforts to create food secure communities in South Africa through a dual support system of food provision and capacity building, with the latter designed to empower communities to sustainably access food. Although this shift to sustainability is a key component of their Socio Economic Development (SED) agenda, Tiger Brands' Nutrition Support Programme continues to meet the immediate need of hunger and malnutrition by providing nutrient-dense and fortified foods to more than 30 000 impoverished South Africans each month.

Today, 6 April 2018, marks the latest step in the realization of their aspiration to create food secure communities with improved health. Tiger Brands, in partnership with national NGO Food and Trees for Africa presented 500 homes in the Mohlakeng area with 'home garden starter packs' (which include a variety of seeds, tools, watering cans and compost). This follows the training of 20 Community Educators and more than 100 community members in September 2017, who have been trained on natural farming methods with a view to creating and sustaining vegetable gardens.

"We want to build capacity in the communities that Tiger Brands supports so that community members can engage in sustainable farming and improve their nutrition and access to food. In the spirit of sustainability, Tiger Brands launched the Tiger Brands Household and Community Food Garden Initiative in July 2017, exposing nearly 200 community members to natural farming methods and expertise," says Charissa Jaganath, Tiger Brands' Group Manager of Socio-Economic Development. Permaculture (which is essentially a system of agricultural and social design principles centered on simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems) has been incorporated in the initiative to ensure the long-term sustainability of these projects. Ultimately, the intention of this initiative is to promote food sovereignty, healthy lifestyles and basic sustainable practices.

As part of the handover today, each Community Educator has been allocated 25 Home Gardens to mentor. As a group, they will each receive a series of tools and training to ensure that they provide tailored, immediate support to community members engaged in Home Gardens. This is the latest phase in the community's journey towards long term food security - households around the Mohlakeng Community Centre have already received 1 000 fruit and indigenous trees. The first roll-out of tree plantings took place in September 2017 when 500 homes in Mohlakeng received fruit and shade trees; the beginning of their homestead gardens.

"Shade trees improve soil fertility in the homestead gardens, and fruit trees will add diversity to the harvest once they start to bear. Homes were identified to receive training and resources to start their own food gardens based on the survival rate of the trees distributed" added Jaganath.

Emily Jones, Trees and Carbon Programme Manager at Food and Trees for Africa says, "We are very excited to be partnering with a company so committed to long term food security interventions on both the household and community level. We look forward to witnessing real long term impact with our community partners."

The handover took place today at St John's the Divine in Mohlakeng in Gauteng (close to Randfontein).

ENDS

About Tiger Brands

Tiger Brands is one of Africa's largest, listed manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Our core business is manufacturing, marketing and distributing everyday branded food to middle-income consumers. We also distribute leading brands in the home, personal care and baby sectors.

In South Africa, Tiger Brands has prominent market shares in a broad range of categories, growing for almost a century through acquisitions and developing its brands.

Key Divisions and Categories:

GRAINS

• baked goods;
• maize;
• rice;
• pasta

GROCERIES

• snacks and treats;
• beverages,
• value added meat products;
• home and personal care
• baby
• condiments and ingredients
• fruit and veg

In addition to our core South African business, we have operations in Nigeria and Cameroon. In recent years, we have built a sizeable exports business for our products throughout Africa.

Tiger Brands prides itself on being a world-class manufacturer and marketer of everyday branded goods. Our success is underpinned by the strength of these brands and continuous improvement initiatives. We support our core brands, backed by consumer and shopper research that provides comprehensive insights into our chosen categories and markets.

We also hold meaningful minority interests in associate companies:

• South Africa: JSE-listed Oceana Group Limited (42,1%) (fishing)

• Chile: Empresas Carozzí (24,4%) (FMCG)

• Nigeria: UAC Foods Limited (49,0%) (FMCG)

• Zimbabwe: Listed National Foods Holdings Limited (37,4%) (FMCG).

Tiger Brands employs a total of 18 085 employees (permanent and temporary) within and outside of South Africa. This figure excludes seasonal and casual workers