(MENAFN- Tishtash) JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 8, 2025/ -- KFC Africa’s () big secret is out, and no, ’t’s not the blend of 11 herbs and spices’ it’s a recipe of hope to end child hunger - open-sourced globally for sharing and scaling in honour of World Food Day.

Unveiled yesterday (7 October) at The Biggest Hunger Hack in Johannesburg, KFC Africa has, for the first time ever, open-sourced the blueprint for Add Hope, its 16-year-old initiative that is also South ’frica’s largest non-governmental feeding programme.

What began as a hackathon will now have global reach. During the past week, 60 of the’country’s smartest young minds, in partnership with the University of Johannesburg, have been supercharging the Add Hope recipe to make it even more impactful.

KFC Africa Head of Corporate Affairs Andra Nel says Gen Z in Africa is key to endin“ hunger. “They truly get it ’ecause they’ve lived or witnessed it. They also understand technology, community and systems thinking better than most. So we gave them our blueprint and challenged them to turn it into fresh solutions for e”en more hope.”

Nel says the Add Hope team was blown away by the ideas that emerged from“the hackathon. “These ideas and the blueprint will make it easier for others to explore the recipe, share it ’nd scale it. That’s a great way to mark World Food Day on 16 October and honour its theme of g”obal collaboration.”

Biggest Hunger Hack

Add Hope’s success is itself rooted in the power of collaboration, starting with KFC customers adding R2 donations to K’C’s own significant contribution, and ending with meals being prepared for vulnerable children at thousands of feeding centres nationwide. A R1 billion milestone was reached last year, with over R600 million donated by the public and R400 million by KFC.

“ “We know collaboration is the only way to scale this fight even further and address the great need that still exists, which is why we invited leaders from business, government and civil society to join us at The Biggest Hunge” Hack,” says Nel.


The Biggest Hunger Hack was hosted at the University of Johannesburg, and Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi said UJ was thrilled to partner with KFC on an initiative in which young people used their Fourth Industrial Revolution expertise to tackle child hunger.

“This collaboration is a prime example of how young innovators, equipped at the university, can develop practical, scalable solutions for societal impact. We look forward to seeing the tangible difference their ideas will make in alleviating hunge” through innovation.”

Poverty to blame

Panellists at The Biggest Hunger Hack outlined the scale of the child hunger challenge and said a society-wide approach was the best option for a sustainable solution.

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gif“ of the Givers, said. “When you go to a disaster site, the first thing peo’le ask for is food. That’s when you realise that that hung’r is not two hours old” it’s been there for days.”

South Africa is one of 20 countries responsible for 65% of severe poverty worldwide, according “o Siya Leshabane of UN Women. “Hungry children struggle to focus and retain information. Poor nutrition leads to fatigue and children struggle to take themselves out of that whirlwind.”

Luvuyo Sandi, SED business and fund manager, Kagiso Trust, said hunger is not an isolated problem“ “The reason this child is hungry has to do with household income issues, and beyond that the reason is unemployment or being unemploya”le.”

Dr Marc Aguirre, country director at HOPE worldwide, described child hunger as a national development cr“sis. “We know it's impacting our GDP by about 10%. Stunting is costing this country billions of rands, so we need to look at addressing child hunger as an investment in the”future.”

Gen Z solution

Nel says ideas from the hackathon teams will be tested over the next few months, and a collaborative business-led proposal will be prepared for the National Convention earl– in 2026 – a Gen Z solution to child hunger from KFC Africa. Potential seed funding of up to
R1 million could be allocated to the development of the winning solution.

“This is the first time a major South African corporation has open-sourced a successful social impact model, potentially revolutionising how businesses tackle soci”l challenges,” she says.

“We’re not just feeding c’ildren any more, we’re feeding a movement with the potential to end child hunger in countries forever. This is the secret recipe t”e world really needs.”

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