South African students develop tech concept to tackle hunger using AI and blockchain

A team of young South African developers has designed an app to redirect surplus and ‘wonky’ farm produce to hungry families — one of several award-winning ideas at KFC Africa’s Biggest Hunger Hack, a national challenge using technology to fight child hunger

A prototype app that rescues “ugly” fruit and vegetables from farms and redirects them to food-insecure families has been named the winning concept in a national hackathon aimed at tackling South Africa’s hunger crisis.

The app, Misfits Mzansi, was devised by a team called ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del-Hunger’ and uses data-driven logistics and social engagement tools to reduce waste and channel food to households most in need. Users will also be able to take part in short cooking challenges and ad-funded content that turns every view into a micro-donation. “You become a philanthropist just by watching a video,” the team said.

The idea emerged from The Biggest Hunger Hack, a week-long innovation challenge hosted by KFC Africa ahead of World Food Day earlier this month. Sixty Gen Z developers competed to design digital solutions that could modernise Add Hope, the company’s hunger-relief initiative. Potential seed funding of up to R1 million will be allocated to develop the winning project.

KFC Add Hope currently supports more than 3,300 feeding centres and reached 154,000 children last year through millions of R2 customer donations. The hackathon invited participants to re-engineer the programme’s open-source framework using artificial intelligence, blockchain, data visualisation and social-media tools to improve transparency and reach.

Other prototypes included Hack 4 Hope’s blockchain-based WhatsApp chatbot, allowing donors to scan QR codes from till slips and trace each R2 contribution from payment to meal served, and Bit Coders’ AI-driven donation platform using MTN’s MoMo API for instant payments and tax receipts. Streetwise Scripters proposed a “TikTok-to-Till” campaign linking online storytelling with a real-time donor dashboard and KFC loyalty-rewards integration.

“The Biggest Hunger Hack showed what happens when young digital natives use tech for good,” Andra Nel, KFC Africa’s Head of Brand Purpose and ESG, said. “They understand hunger because many have lived it, and they understand technology because they were born into it. That’s the sweet spot for innovation with purpose.”

Business, government and non-profit representatives attended the final in Johannesburg, where teams pitched their concepts to potential partners. Nel said pilot programmes with existing Add Hope organisations are now being explored, with results expected before the National Convention on Child Hunger next year.

“Opening up Add Hope as an open-source blueprint has unleashed an outpouring of ubuntu that’s turning this fight into a movement,” she said. “These Gen Z hackers showed how tech can supercharge reach and transparency. Now the goal is to turn their best concepts into live pilots with our 128 feeding partners.”

The Misfits Mzansi app remains in development. KFC Africa said potential funding and collaboration with Add Hope partners could help move the concept from prototype to live pilot stage in the coming months.

READ MORE: ‘UK to host African Development Fund summit as Africa pushes for food self-sufficiency’. As the UK prepares to host a major African Development Fund summit, new projects in Zambia and calls for farmer-led resilience are highlighting how development finance is reshaping Africa’s future.

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