Tiger Brands’ university food and nutrition programme, Plates4Days, has teamed up with the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Student Nutrition and Progress Programme (SNAPP) to support the daily nutritional needs of 500 students enrolled at the University for the next year.

The programme at UP kicks off this week in the run-up to World Food Day commemorated on Saturday, 16 October 2021.  

“As one of the biggest food producers in South Africa, there is an inherent obligation on our part to relieve one of the globe’s greatest challenges – food insecurity. It begins with our youth. A hungry student is unable to fulfil their true potential. Hunger compounds the pressures that they are faced with as young people trying to make their way through life, particularly at this juncture when their performance at university has a critical impact on their future potential professional lives.

Tebogo Phasha, Stakeholder Relations at Tiger Brands; Dr Willem Jorissen, Deputy Director: Student Affairs, University of Pretoria; Bhaviksha Ramouthar, Project Coordinator, Department of Student Affairs, University of Pretoria; Zolile Ntukwana, Director: External Affairs Director, Tiger Brands; and Dr Matete Madiba, Director: Student Affairs, University of Pretoria.

“Assisting students with food supplies while studying at tertiary institutions means one less substantial worry for our country’s youth. It ensures they are given an equal opportunity to access a successful future,” says Zolile Ntukwana, External Affairs Director, Tiger Brands.

Tiger Brands initiated Plates4Days in 2008 as a means of addressing the challenge of student hunger at universities across South Africa by providing those in need with nutritionally balanced food hampers.

The 13-year-old programme supports more than 5 000 students each month at seven of the country’s universities. Qualifying students receive a food hamper each month which is packaged with dietary staples such as maize meal and rice to help sustain them.

The UP’s SNAPP is a support programme that is run by the Department of Student Affairs at the University catering to students who are financially disadvantaged, with limited or no funding. The programme was initiated to foster high quality education for students in need, by providing them with food and psychological support.

Professor Themba Mosia, Vice-Principal: Student Affairs at UP, explained approximately 250 students are assisted through SNAPP on a monthly basis. With the support from the Plates4days Programme the University will double the number of students that it is able to support.

The contribution from Tiger Brands “will go a long way in providing relief in an economic climate where more and more families are slipping into poverty and student food insecurity is escalating. We are most grateful for this partnership in support of the overall health and wellness of our student community and student success during these challenging times,” he said.