The purpose of the No Student Hungry (NSH) programme at the University of the Free State (UFS) is to ensure that the most vulnerable students – with an excellent academic record but who are food insecure – are provided with healthy food options so that they can successfully complete their studies.

Contributing to the UFS Strategic Plan, Strategic Goal 1 (to improve student success and well-being), the university has compiled a Food Environment Strategy to develop and implement a health-promoting food environment, where students are informed and empowered to take appropriate action regarding their food and nutrition situation. The NSH food bursary programme is one of the key components of this  strategy.

The problem of inadequate food environments on university campuses has been noted globally over the past decade. As many as 59% of our students do not know where their next meal will come from (Food Environment programme registered with the Department of Higher Education as a tertiary institution).

Being situated in one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, a great number of our students are from economically disadvantaged homes and do not have the means to support themselves while studying. Another factor that increases the need for food assistance is the delay in the delivery of bursary funds. 

Inadequate funding for living expenses, accompanied by a lack of knowledge and skills to plan, procure, and prepare healthy meals on the available budget, contributes to the hunger situation on our campuses. Research in the United States shows that students who are food insecure are more likely to be anxious and suffer from depression.

The inability to provide for themselves, together with the added stress caused by their financial struggles, has more than once resulted in some of our most talented students dropping out of university and taking a job to augment their meagre financial resources. The effect of students dropping out of university is felt at economic and societal level. This loss of learning could waste untold human potential and undermine decades of work to get our students to university where they can build a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.  

Food security exists when all people – at all times – have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. 

The 2020 and 2022 UFS Food Security Surveys found that three quarters of students were classified as food insecure. When the 2020 data was analysed against academic performance, food insecurity was associated with lower academic performance and pass rates. The 2020 and 2022 reports also highlighted the importance of the student food environment. The food environment determines the food that students eat, and considers factors such as food access, affordability, convenience, culture and personal preferences, as well as available transport, time, skills and facilities to procure and store ingredients and fresh produce, and to prepare meals. By not paying attention to students' food environments, vulnerable students will be pushed further along the continuum of food insecurity towards hunger, making it even more difficult for them to adequately feed themselves with what is available. 

Drawing on data from institution-wide surveys, the university is now approaching the problem from a broader perspective. The entire food environment and the entire student population have been considered in the planning of a strategy to develop and implement a health‑ promoting food environment programme. This UFS Food Environment programme, believed to be a first in South Africa, offers students an opportunity for a healthy food environment, empowering them with knowledge and skills to take informed and responsible actions regarding their nutrition and food choices in order to promote their well‑being and success. The programme also provides acute hunger relief to those students for whom their situations have become dire.