How Africa's largest food distribution organisation works with researchers to improve operations?

Zawya

07-03-2025

The collaboration between FoodForward South Africa (FFSA), Stellenbosch University, and the Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a story of serendipity, shared purpose, and a commitment to making a tangible impact on South Africa's food security landscape.
This partnership was born during a research sabbatical when Prof. Sara Grobbelaar visited Dr Chris Mejia-Argueta, the founder and director of the Emerging Market Economies Logistics Lab (EMeL). As they explored potential areas of collaboration, the topic of food systems emerged and, in particular, the role of food banks sparked a shared passion. While on sabbatical at MIT, Prof. Grobbelaar learned that one of the world's largest and most advanced food banks, FFSA, was right on her doorstep in South Africa. A connection with Andy du Plessis, FFSA's managing director, set the wheels in motion for what has now become a long-term, impactful collaboration.
"I was looking for a credible organisation with scale, where Stellenbosch University and MIT could collaborate towards meaningful, real-world impact. FFSA has a vetted social network of more than 2,500 beneficiary organisations collectively reaching nearly one million vulnerable people daily, so they were an obvious choice," says Prof. Grobbelaar.
The core focus of the collaboration is to provide robust evidence-based research and recommendations to improve FFSA's scale and impact. "We do this by co-creating a framework that identifies areas where improvements could yield the greatest operational efficiency, along with increased social, economic, and environmental benefits," says Grobbelaar.
The research team at Stellenbosch University, led by Prof. Grobbelaar, is supported by Dr Euodia Vermeulen and Dr Martin du Plessis, along with a mix of several graduate, honours, masters, and PhD candidates.
"One of the key metrics of our work at FFSA is that we are able to demonstrate impact in a transparent and tangible manner to our food and financial donors. Our partnership with Stellenbosch University enables us to augment this philosophy, allowing us to achieve even better value for money in terms of our Foodbanking model," says Andy du Plessis.
One example of how research adds value is Daniel Rautenbach's master's thesis titled "Beyond Financial Impact: A Framework for Evaluating and Reporting the Non-Financial Performance of South African Food Banks". His work focused on developing a framework to measure NPOs non-financial impact by identifying performance indicators, standardising evaluation methods, and guidelines for consistent reporting, which laid the groundwork for measuring FFSA's Social Return on Investment (SROI) impact. Building on this foundation, final-year student Kian Sheppard developed Power-BI dashboards that visualise FFSA's impact for accessible, real-time insights, giving the organisation a concise overview of its operational performance.
In parallel, Dr Euodia Vermeulen, Dr Mejia-Argueta, and master's student Ane Janse van Vuuren are working on FFSA's transaction datasets to optimise its supply chain network structures. Their research evaluates potential network changes that could enhance FFSA's distribution efficiency by applying agent-based modelling techniques. Using FFSA's actual network data, the team is exploring alternative structures to improve the flow of food from food donors to beneficiary organisations and provide system-level insights for guiding strategic and operational decisions.
The partnership has also opened up exciting new avenues for strategic and tactical considerations. Dr Martin du Plessis is conducting a feasibility study on the potential of FFSA issuing carbon credits as a supplementary funding stream. At the same time, final-year student Lize-Mari Colyn's research analysed the organisation's distribution costs, focusing on warehousing and transportation.
In a related study, Frances Burger, a final-year student, developed emission intensity factors to benchmark FFSA's greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of food distributed. These projects collectively contribute to a better understanding of FFSA's cost structures and environmental impact while providing invaluable recommendations to reduce its carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, students from Prof. Jan van Vuuren's Operations Research Group (ORSA) at Stellenbosch University have applied advanced data science techniques to support FFSA's mission. One notable contribution is from Dr Fuzail Dawood, whose PhD research developed a comprehensive framework for quantifying the multidimensional aspects of food security through an innovative index. This work provides remarkable insights to guide FFSA's data-driven decision-making processes.
The collaboration continues to evolve, driven by the shared goal of improving food security in South Africa. "This partnership exemplifies how collaborative efforts can create meaningful, measurable impact in addressing food insecurity by bridging academic research with real-world application," says Dr Mejia-Argueta.
Together, FFSA, Stellenbosch University, and MIT are building an exciting future where innovative, data-driven solutions reduce food waste, improve food systems, and address food and nutrition security at scale.
Contributors: Prof. Sara Grobbelaar, Prof. Chris Mejia-Argueta, and Andy Du Plessis