Social Development

(1) (a) The Department through the Sustainable Livelihoods Programme currently provides funding support to 55 Non-Profit Organisations, managing 102 CDCs, 65 Community kitchens and 17 Feeding sites. The CNDCs form part of the Departments integrated response to food insecurity. CNDCs provide daily nutritious meals to vulnerable individuals and households, including out- of school children and persons with disabilities. In addition to meal provision, many CNDCs implement complementary community development initiatives, household food gardens, skills and income generating projects as well as livelihoods support through work opportunities, to promote self-reliance and community resilience.

(b) CNDCs are strategically located across all six (6) regions of the province in communities with the highest levels of poverty and food insecurity, ensuring equitable geographic coverage and accessibility for vulnerable households.

(c)  The CNDCs and community kitchens collectively reach about 27 071 beneficiaries per month (non-cumulative), providing access to daily nutritious meals for 5 days per week, throughout the year and complementary development initiatives to promote well-being and improve resilience.

(d)  For the current financial year 2025-26, a total budget of R49 056 000.00 has been committed to sustain CNDC ad community kitchens operations, inclusive of food procurement for cooked meals and food parcels, work opportunities (cooks and programme officers), Sustainable Livelihoods Skills and income generating projects, Norms and Standards and operational costs. (The detailed grid attached outlines the following: Number of operational CNDCs, Service delivery areas and Number of beneficiaries supported to access daily nutritious meals: Annexure A- Sustainable Livelihoods Database of funded NPOs 2025/2026).

(e) The Sustainable Livelihoods Programme provides continuous capacity building and technical advisory support to CNDC staff to enhance service delivery standards and compliance with Norms and Standards. Training covers areas such as food safety and hygiene, nutrition education, CDNC implementation Model, Financial management, record -keeping, reporting and governance.  Additional mentorship and monitoring are provided through on-site Line monitoring and performance monitoring to ensure accountability and service quality.

(2) In response to persistent household food insecurity and in alignment with the national Food and Nutrition Security Strategy, the Department through the Sustainable Livelihoods Programme continues to prioritise and explore expansion opportunities to expand coverage in areas found to have high levels of food insecurity and poverty. Furthermore, expansion priorities are guided by the provincial hunger and food insecurity indicators through monitoring and assessment of the data collection instruments such as the general Household Survey (GHS), quarterly Non-Financial Data (NFD) from Funded NPOs-CNDCs on the number of beneficiaries accessing food relief services and Regional Referrals of persons experiencing undue hardship and in need of food relief services. Expansion will be pursued subject to budget availability and resource mobilisation, including partnerships with municipalities, the private sector and NPOs to strengthen community -based food insecurity interventions.

(3)(a) Challenges encountered in the implementation and sustainability of CNDCs.The implementation and sustainability of CNDCs continue to face several challenges that impact service delivery and programme effectiveness. These include:Budget constraints: which limit the scale of operations and the ability to integrate broader food security interventions beyond feeding. While CNDCs provide critical daily meals, feeding alone does not address the underlying causes of food insecurity such as unemployment, low household income and limited access to livelihoods.

(b) While budget constraints remain a key challenge, the Department is implementing a multi-sectoral approach that integrates food provisioning with livelihood support and local partnerships to promote sustainability.  Prioritisation of Increased budget allocation however is critical to ensure that CNDCs contribute not only to immediate hunger relief but also to long-term food security and community resilience. Overall, the CNDCs remain a vital safety net for vulnerable households while contributing to broader provincial objective of achieving food security.