Malnutrition is a significant issue in Africa, with wide-ranging and devastating effects on individuals, communities, and entire countries. The continent faces a complex array of challenges related to malnutrition, including food insecurity, poverty, climate change, and political instability.
Newly appointed head of public affairs – Africa Global Public Affairs, Europe and Africa (EMEA) region at Herbalife, Tobela Tapula, said agriculture has a critical role in ending hunger on the continent. He acknowledged that climate change is hampering food production in Africa leading to many farming operations closing shop.
Food For Mzansi’s Tiisetso Manoko caught up with Tapula to outline how he sees his organisation fighting food shortages, and what solutions they have for the ongoing food insecurity on the continent.
Tiisetso Manoko: Africa has experienced hunger, malnutrition, and drought which has led to some countries being unable to produce their food. What could be the solutions?
Tobela Tapula: I think hunger and malnutrition can be avoided by African countries if African governments would plan strategically on how to manage the national budget and utilise the national budget to deal with the effects of climate change and drought.
There are good examples where public-private partnerships (PPP) have worked to tackle hunger and malnutrition. These PPP arrangements worked because the government demonstrated leadership by creating an enabling environment for the private sector to make a meaningful contribution to the thinking, formulation and implementation of lasting solutions.
One of these examples was the government of Rwanda’s partnership with the Herbalife Family Foundation, World Bank and The Power of Nutrition. The partnership included a grant of $300 000 and focused on the Stunting Reduction Program in Rwanda.
We are currently partnering with an organisation called Feed the Children to deal decisively with the issues of hunger and malnutrition. The Herbalife Family Foundation has been committed to helping alleviate food shortages for more than 17 years.
Since taking up the position, what has kept you awake at night? What have you been busy with?
What is keeping me awake at night are the high levels of unemployment in South Africa. Since assuming this position, I have been using my network in government and the private sector to develop joint youth employment programmes.
There’s a memorandum of understanding that we signed as an industry, with the Gauteng economic development department, where we have developed a youth entrepreneurship programme.
My intention is to ensure that this agreement is implemented and adopted by other provincial governments (Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape) and metropolitan municipalities (City of Johannesburg).
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What does your new role entail and what will be your focus area?
I’m responsible for handling the day-to-day interface with key external stakeholders (in the Africa region), which includes government institutions, private sector, and regulatory institutions, as part of our Europe and Africa business strategy.
Our government affairs strategy views government stakeholders such as farmers and the agricultural sector as our partners where we are required to find lasting solutions.
I also participate in a number of industry associations where we execute innovative approaches to how business can enable youth empowerment, job creation, and ensure food security, wellness and health issues.
Awareness and education are important in addressing hunger and malnutrition. How do you intend to tackle that in the 11 countries you will be responsible for?
We believe everyone should have access to nutritious food and a basic understanding of what the human body needs to thrive. I will be working with Herbalife’s internal stakeholders to popularise our awareness and education campaigns on these matters.
I call upon other partners to collaborate with us to ensure that we provide information on how to access foods that are nutritious. This is where farmers come into play as this is their territory, [and] we all need to work together.
What will be your message to those stakeholders you will be engaging with and what can they expect from you?
The solutions we need on the African continent require government, regulators, the private sector and communities to work together. So, for us to be successful, I urge my key stakeholders including farmers to embrace collaborative partnerships and the enactment of sensible policy regimes that will assist us to achieve the change that we all desire.
I would like my stakeholders to be assured of my commitment to engage in a solution-orientated approach, forging genuine, long-term partnerships that will produce social impact.
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