Arab Finance: Entittenally Mohsen SarhanCEO of Egyptian Food Bank One of the leaders of the development work in Egypt, and the food bank itself is one of the largest civil entities working in vital sectors such as education, economic empowerment, and the provision of food for those who are not able, as well as supporting farmers in the countryside.
Arab Finance, Mohsen Sarhan, met the CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank in an exclusive interview, as he revealed the most important programs that the bank plans to implement during the next stage, as well as discussing what is, the philosophy of work in the food bank, and its role in protecting some groups such as children from diseases malnutrition The dwarf also revealed the number of beneficiaries of the food bank programs in Egypt, and the text of the dialogue:
In the beginning, he told us about the activity of the Egyptian Food Bank during the current period in the month of Ramadan?
The Egyptian Food Bank is a food security institution in Egypt, and of course we are when we talk about food security, this means that we are working according to the same framework that the United Nations in the field of sustainable development is working on to eliminate hunger as we work on three main axes in line with the same targeted international plan in the whole world.
Our first goal is to provide food security, for groups unable to earn, as the food bank gives direct food aid either through wrapped food packages or through our new project that we started by opening 220 outlets and supermarkets belonging to the Egyptian Food Bank spread in all Egyptian governorates, where we send to the beneficiaries electronic codes through which they can shop as they want in these ports, which gives them a great deal of dignity Instead of getting a carton and carrying it.
As for the direct food aid program for families who are unable to earn, it is registered with about 100,000 families, or about 600 thousand citizens, who are assisted on a monthly basis.
With regard to the second axis, from our work, it is the axis of care for the mother and the child, where we interfere through three basic points since the mother’s pregnancy, where we have a program to combat dwarfing for children, and the issue of dwarf is one of the very sensitive issues, and one of the national issues that affects about 20% of the children of Egypt is threatened by dwarf, and their ambition is stolen, and they are still in the stomachs of their mothers, and we interfere through the dwarf program by educating women about the methods of nutrition Proper during pregnancy, which reaches about three periods of each period that has its nature in terms of the nature of nutrition in each period of pregnancy, and we follow the nutrition with it during the pregnancy and after the child we follow with the mother the nutritional state of the child until he reaches the age The project, which is called a thousand days project.
What other programs for children after the child reaches two years old?
We intervene after that stage through the civil nurseries of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, where we have a program for nourishing nurseries, followed by a school feeding program in schools affiliated with the Ministry of Education where we work to feed 70 thousand children per day. We offer them 70 thousand meals, and this program is working on it for 10 years, and this program is one of our strongest programs in the Egyptian Food Bank as we provide for future generations the minimum feeding that makes them the best study They are able to understand, and academic assimilation, and then they can enter the labor market and compete in it and break the poverty link in which they live.
We also have a third program, which is one of the most important axes developed in the Egyptian Food Bank, which is the empowerment axis where we currently work with thousands of small farmers and small producers as we enter them with us within the supply chains, and instead of buying from the private sector we buy their agricultural products where we provide them with technical support, agricultural guidance, modern irrigation methods and combat agricultural pests and then buy from them the crop after that.
As for the month of Ramadan in particular, we are doing what we do during the whole year, but in a much wider way and scope, where the work is rewarded in the month of Ramadan, what we work in during a whole year. For example, if we provide 100 thousand food assistance directly directly, during Ramadan, we distribute a million food assistance where the work is intense during the holy month of Ramadan, and this is of course as a result of a natural response from the Egyptians to provide their zakat during the month of Ramadan.
How do you see the philosophy of the Egyptian Food Bank in the field of community development?
We are fully convinced that food is the basis of everything, as we do not consider the issue of food security only to satisfy hunger, while we see, for example, that the woman who sponsors children if she does not get the minimum feeding, this leads to lack of interest in her health, education, teaching her children, or even care, and raising them moral Feeling reassuring to provide the minimum food, it is impossible to ask these some kind of development, and so on the rest of the community, the child who does not have the minimum food will not absorb the lessons provided to him, and will not have the minimum academic achievement, and this also receives the ability to work and production as the person who does not get the minimum of nutrition will not be productive in the labor market and therefore we are convinced that providing food is the rule The basic of any other type of development, and we interfere here according to the agreed framework globally, as we offer food for those who are unable to work, while those who are able to work in the supply chains and buy their products from them to provide a stable and stable income for them.
Is there an interest in the type of food provided to the beneficiaries so that it is a healthy food?
Yes, of course, we have a full sector in the Egyptian Food Bank called the Food Bank laboratories, and we have a nutritional studies laboratory and is led by experts, and scientific competencies in the field of nutrition such as Dr. Mohamed Al -Kirmani, and he holds a doctorate in food policies from the United States of America and came to Egypt to work with us in this field, and in this sector we focus on the nutritional needs of each age stage and the appropriate food composition for each age of all calories such as Starches, fats, proteins, or partial and accurate, such as minerals and vitamins that are served for children so that they are able to absorb academic, for example we have a school feeding program through which we offer a hot meal for children.
There is a newly invented food part related to a enveloped food product consisting of a full pill and enhanced with a bundle of vitamins and minerals. It offers the child all his daily needs in the form of one package and the results of this product are very good, and we currently provide 40 thousand children with this food product, in addition to 30 thousand children we offer them hot meals from meat, rice, vegetables and fruits as we have in the schools through which we offer this service a kitchen and hall Food to provide nutrition for children as well as their extension of the necessary health awareness, and we talked with Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education, last week about this vital program and ways to expand school feeding programs in Egypt through the food bank.
What are the most important programs that you will focus on during the coming period?
We are currently focusing on the expansion of the empowerment axis, which is the way in which thousands of job opportunities can be opened as we recently opened in the New Valley Governorate several fish farms where the fish species did not reach them easily, due to the distance, and reach them at high prices so we opened a number of fish farms there and provided job opportunities for dozens A large farm in Minya Governorate to grow dates, which is one of the farms that we can use in our products that we offer to children. We also think about selling these dates at low prices for the local market, and the return from them is used to support the Zakat programs for the Egyptian Food Bank, such as monthly nutrition for those who are unable to work.
Is there cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization “FAO” as one of the international organizations interested in agriculture and food?
We have a long history of cooperation with “FAO” where the Faw Food Bank has entered the Egyptian Food Bank to lead civil society talks about 6 months, as we hosted all the similar NGOs of our work in the field of food security in the entire Arab region and the meetings came out with a joint work paper presented by the Arab world societies at the annual Faw FAO conference in Jordan, and we also cooperate with them in the field of technical support for small farmers.
How do you see the impact of high levels of poverty on development in Egypt?
The high levels of poverty in Egypt put pressure on the state because the state is the first concerned with providing social protection for the less fortunate classes, and I see that the only solution to confront poverty is to provide a lot of job opportunities, especially in rural areas, and we, as the Egyptian Food Bank, buy food products at more than 2 billion pounds annually and currently we have a direction during the coming period to start buying about 70% of this value of small farmers and producers, which can eliminate the elimination of Poverty is a model that can be applied in all associations. Instead of buying from the private sector, we buy directly from the poor.
How much is the volume of charitable spending in Egypt?
I expect that the volume of charitable spending in Egypt will not be less than 20 billion pounds at the level of charitable societies, where there are about 35 thousand charitable societies in Egypt and this amount relates to the organized sector for charitable societies, but I expect that unorganized charitable aid will be 10 times this amount, and I see that charitable spending in Egypt should not be less than 200 billion pounds, and the matter there is not related to the lack of resources as much as it is weak in the efficiency of resource distribution and not in their few.
We hope that the more confidence in the Egyptian society in the charitable sector organized in institutions such as the Food Bank, there will be efficiency in the distribution of resources between those who own money and those who do not have it.
How can we balance charitable and development work in Egypt?
Development and charitable work, they are a series that complements each other, but at the same time there are groups of society with which no development interventions will benefit, and it is necessary to remain in charitable support forever such as the disabled or the elderly while there are those who can integrate them into development work, which is what we do in the food bank, and we are currently cooperating with the Ministry of Local Development to start in some governorates and exploit industrial blocs in launching production units in Different sectors, as we work in general in 27 governorates at the level of the Republic in 2500 villages from 4,500 villages at the level of the Republic.
How do you work to sustain through development projects affiliated with the Food Bank?
We have a dairy farm in Beheira Governorate of 3 thousand heads of the best dairy farms in the world, and it is already generating income and sustainability for the activities of the food bank because we are using its profits in the activities of the Egyptian Food Bank as we have a farm to name calves in Minya, but in the end the main factor in the sustainability of the Egyptian Food Bank will remain the confidence of the Egyptian society and the conviction of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians with our cause.
How do you see the role of businessmen in supporting charitable work?
The private sector in Egypt has a great activity in supporting charitable work, and the private sector cannot flourish and there is a rise in poverty rates in society and it is in the interest of the private sector to flourish society so that individuals can buy its products.
What is the mechanism of work to distribute food products to the food bank?
We are currently working, and since this year, the food mobilization is in an ultimate manner, as it is historically the mobilization spoke at the main headquarters of the Egyptian Food Bank in Cairo, while we are currently packing in the governorates as we work with rural women, we give them chicks that they raise and then buy them from them as a poultry, which is called the comprehensive work mechanisms, which is one of the most efficient ways to fight poverty in our country.
How do you measure the impact of your work?
We work to measure the impact by studying the effect of our work on the categories due after obtaining support and we publish our budget and all of our activities in a transparent transparency on our website.
What do you think of the exploitation of some associations for children in advertisements and advertisements?
We have a strict policy not to publish our entitlements except in the case of delivery of food resources, we hand them over, but without the appearance of the face and we generate pictures of artificial intelligence in advertisements, especially for children, in order to maintain the dignity of the beneficiaries.
What is the size of the support provided to the Gaza Strip last period?
I have been 20 days at the Rafah crossing to ensure that aid enters the Gaza Strip, and during the past year and a half of the number of trucks reached 677 with a total of 15,420 tons of basic materials for the residents of Gaza, and the Egyptian people have a great desire to help the people of Gaza, and we have a great role in helping the Palestinians residing in Egypt also for treatment where we have kitchens in North Sinai and provide them with food on a daily basis. We also provide food support for the brothers residing in Egypt from the Sudanese, and we have a management of relief and expatriates affairs, unlike crises and historically, we are working on food support for students from Africa and East Asia to learn Al -Azhar.
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