The Global Foodbanking Network

Programs: Capacity building: gfn provides catalytic investments in food banks that allow them to grow their service area or increase their distribution of nutrient-rich, perishable foods. Although the majority of food banks in gfn's network benefit from local support, it is often challenging for them to secure the resources needed to expand their service area or build out their infrastructure to deliver new categories of food, particularly fruits and vegetables. To remedy this, gfn is partnering with global donors to grow the resource pool into which gfn food banks can tap and partnering with food banks to determine the investments that would have the greatest impact on hunger and malnutrition. Capacity-building efforts initiated by gfn benefit from the expertise of our programming team, which has decades of experience in hunger relief and food banking. In fy18, the capacity building program provided nearly 400,000 people around the world with safe and nutritious food. Food banks in argentina, australia, bulgaria, canada, chile, colombia, dominican republic, france, germany, hong kong, india, ireland, israel, mexico, singapore, south africa, south korea, spain, taiwan, and the united kingdom benefited.

assuring safety through certification: although much of gfn 's work now focuses on strengthening and directing resources to established food banks, there are still many communities where new food banks are needed. For these new food banks, gfn provides focused and intensive training, know-how, and support that is intended to help them launch and grow operations much more quickly. Once sufficiently developed, food banks are "certified" by gfn and formally join our network. This certification is viewed by many partners as a third-party seal of approval that validates the food bank's operations, allowing it to access financial and food resources from local and global partners. For example, certification ensures that a food bank is legally registered, is operating ethically and free from corruption, is partnering effectively with social service agencies, and is handling food safely. Certification is reviewed by gfn every two years to ensure compliance with legal, financial, ethical, and food safety standards. In fy2018, gfn welcomed food banks in china, peru, and turkey into the network. Food banking organizations in brazil, bulgaria, chile, colombia, ecuador, russia, israel, singapore, taiwan, and united kingdom were re-certified.

education and training: the gfn food bank leadership institute (fbli) remains the only training and education conference for food bank leaders based in latin america, the caribbean, africa, and asia pacific. Many food bankers outside of the us and europe are extremely isolated. For them, fbli is not only the sole opportunity for specialized professional training, but also a chance to connect with peers. The fy2018 fbli convened 107 food bankers from 31 countries. Sessions covered a variety of topics from securing increased food donations, the role of technology in food banking operations, and innovative programs to nourish more people. Although fbli remains a training conference, it is increasingly becoming a platform to share best practices and ideas. This is especially evident by the growing attendance of us and european food bankers, who have access to training through their national and regional associations yet still prioritize attending fbli. Engagement in fbli is proven to be transformational for new and emerging food bank leaders. An assessment conducted in fy16 found that early-stage food banks that were regularly engaged with fbli over a period of five years were able to ramp up their operations more quickly than those that were inconsistently engaged with the institute. Based on this assessment's findings, gfn has launched an online platform that will enable its members to receive virtual training throughout the year, as a complement to fbli. Over 400 users are registered for gfn's e-learning platform. In fy18, 340 courses were taken by food bankers from 31 countries.

thought leadership: to achieve its organizational vision of a world free of hunger, gfn is increasingly engaged in international efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, particularly those that focus on zeroing hunger, reducing malnutrition, and halving consumer food waste by 2030. Gfn strengthens its communication tools to provide more effective stakeholder education and engagement, and to inspire new audiences in the fight against hunger. The organization also plays a role in crafting broader solutions to hunger in food waste in partnership with the un food and agriculture organization, the world bank, the world food prize, and multinational corporate partners.