This blog was co-authored with Kaisha Johnson
Members of The Global FoodBanking Network span more than 50 countries and work in every context imaginable, from dense coastal megacities to rural mountain farming villages. The collective experience and knowledge of GFN’s members provide tremendous opportunities for members to come together to discuss challenges and opportunities and build cohesion among food banks.
As cuts in international aid budgets and economic uncertainty persist worldwide, meeting to discuss how food banks can not only maintain their current scale but also position themselves to further scale up felt particularly significant.
Late in 2025, GFN co-hosted regional conferences in Asia Pacific and Africa, respectively, bringing together 17 food banks in the former region and 11 food banks in the latter to explore best practices for reducing food waste and hunger.
In October, food banks in the Asia Pacific region gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the APAC Regional Conference, with a warm welcome from local co-hosts, Kechara Soup Kitchen and The Lost Food Project.
The three-day conference, made possible through Starbucks’ sponsorship, brought together APAC’s food bank leaders to learn from one another, share insights and embolden food systems change within the region.
Food bankers were also joined by GFN’s Board of Directors, who participated to learn directly from food bank insights and better inform their support to the network.
As with all of GFN’s knowledge exchanges, the hope is for food bankers to leave not only feeling more connected to their peers but also inspired with insights that can advance their home operations and further improve the lives of the people they serve.
“Here, I saw so many people that have the same goal, [we’re] doing the same job,” said Chanson Chan from Feeding Hong Kong. “I feel this is so magical, [it] happened to keep me so strong and the spirit that our mission should be shared to more people … everywhere, including in Hong Kong.”
The convivial spirit of the event embraced a mix GFN’s technical assistance and the first-hand experience of the food bankers in attendance, encouraging participants to learn from one another’s best practices and experiences over the years.
“All the fruitful discussions, all the fruitful ideologies [that] have involved in this conference [will] go on further to implementation under the support and guidance of GFN,” said Dinesh Manickam from No Food Waste in India.
“It’s a really great experience for me,” said Indah Syafittri of Aksata Pangan. “It’s really inspiring to bring up to Aksata Pangan when I go back home.”
Learning how to raise funds effectively was top of mind for food bankers in the APAC region, as they engaged to hear new techniques to implement once they return to their home base.
“For example, like we learned … it’s about technology companies, banking companies, even gaming companies,” said Tawee “Kong” Impoolsup of Scholars of Sustenance Thailand. “[They] have philanthropy [initiatives]. They are available and waiting for us to connect with them.” While food banking presents its unique challenges, the conference emphasized how food banks rise above and highlight solutions to overcome them.
“We have common problems, and we have common solutions,” said Jomar Fleras from Rise Against Hunger Philippines. “Together, we can really move the movement forward. We can go deeper with the movement and further with the movement with food banking in the Asia Pacific region.”
In the pulsing metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria, food banks from 11 African countries came together to drive their work forward in a region where food banking is still fairly new. Lagos Food Bank Initiative co-hosted the event with GFN, but being a co-host doesn’t mean there isn’t something new to learn.
“Where we have setbacks, we’re seeing that we’re not the only food bank experiencing this, and we have other food banks in the room that also face that same challenge, but they were able to overcome,” said Justina George from Lagos Food Bank Initiative.
In addition to conference sessions, the local hosts welcomed attendees to its warehouse, which was expanded in 2025, and organized tours of two local product donors, DP World and Olam Agri, to see food banking work in action.
Despite navigating diverse countries and contexts, the conference showed food bankers how similar their work is.
“It’s very, very important to all of us this kind of event that allows us to exchange knowledge, to share our experiences and to recognize all we have in common,” said Pascal Herry, from FoodWise Mauritius. The session on board governance was particularly valuable for food bankers, who heard directly from two members of the Lagos Food Bank Initiative board, Anthony Ellis and Vivian Maduekeh. Participants said this session helped them to think about how their boards of directors can not only help guide the direction of the organization but also bring more value to their food bank.
“The session on good governance will surely allow us to improve even more and then to ask a little more on our members of the board, like what is expected of them and what are their roles and responsibilities in the operation of our food bank,” said Ieja St. Mart from Banque Alimentaire de Madagascar.
The Africa Food Banks Conference coincided with a new milestone for the Lagos Food Bank Initiative: after a thorough audit by GFN, Lagos Food Bank Initiative became a Certified Member of the network, the third such African food bank to achieve this status.
Certification, “tested our strength, our processes, everything was put to the test,” said Michael A. Sunbola, executive director of Lagos Food Bank Initiative. “And, I would say that everything culminating in this very beautiful certification for me is one of the best feelings ever in my six-year journey with GFN.”
“It’s a win for everybody, and it’s a win for Africa,” he added.
Food bankers departed Lagos energized and more bonded to their colleagues united in the mission to reduce hunger and food waste across Africa.
“It was a great joy as Congolese to be here in Nigeria and to participate in these meetings and to learn from other food banks,” said Regis Ngudie from Mapendo Banque Alimentaire in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “When we return to our country, we will also try to apply all these learnings to fight hunger in our country in a sustainable and effective way.”
Asia Pacific attendees: Aksata Pangan, Alliance of Japan Foodbanks, Feeding Hong Kong, Food Bank Vietnam, Foodbank Australia, Foodcycle Indonesia, Green Food Bank (China), HELP Logistics (Singapore), Kechara Soup Kitchen (Malaysia), No Food Waste (India), Rise Against Hunger Philippines, Scholars of Sustenance Indonesia, Scholars of Sustenance Thailand, SimplyShare Foundation (Philippines), Taiwan People’s Food Bank Association, The Food Bank Singapore, The General Incorporated National Association for the Promotion of Food Bank (Japan), The Lost Food Project (Malaysia)
Africa attendees: Banque Alimentaire du Bénin, Banque Alimentaire de Côte d’Ivoire, Mapendo Banque Alimentaire (DRC), It Rains Food Bank of Ethiopia, Food For All Africa (Ghana), Food Banking Kenya, Banque Alimentaire de Madagascar, FoodWise (Mauritius), Banco de Alimentos de Moçambique, Lagos Food Bank Initiative (Nigeria), FoodForward SA (South Africa)
