Evaluation of the Food Secure Communities Programme

MSD’s Food Secure Communities (FSC) programme was established in 2020 and has invested more than $230 million in the community food sector. This funding supported community food providers to meet the increased demand for food driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme strengthens New Zealand’s food security infrastructure and supports households experiencing food insecurity through a three-tiered infrastructure model.

In 2025, MSD commissioned Allen + Clarke to conduct an independent evaluation to assess the effectiveness of FSC investment in food distribution infrastructure and community food provision.

Findings indicate that the FSC investment has been effective in building a functioning food distribution infrastructure at national, regional, and local levels.

Key findings show that the FSC programme and investment:

• is achieving its intended short- and medium-term outcomes.
• has enhanced the efficiency of food distribution at scale.
• has demonstrated efficacy in achieving household food security outcomes.
• supports filling gaps in reaching food insecure households.
• has been effective in building provider capacity to meet diverse household needs.
• has been effective in building system capacity and strengthening emergency response capability.

The increased capacity and capability are shown to be only partially sustainable without continued funding. Providers across the network described increasing demand for their services. Findings also highlight how the value of any part of the food distribution system supported by FSC (e.g. national level through New Zealand Food Network) is intertwined with capacity at regional and local levels to move food through the system to households. 

The evaluation identifies how FSC investment has strengthened the food security system’s ability to respond to emergency situations. The investment has built institutional knowledge, established relationships with civil defence, and created supply chains that can be activated during crises.