Menna Shahin launches Tekeya, A Food Mobile App to Fight Hunger and Reduce Food Waste

Thursday January 31, 2019                     By: Kismat Mokhtar 

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Photo courtesy of World Food Program

At dinner tables around the world, whining children often hear from their mothers about the starving children in Africa who wish for the food they refuse to eat. It became a universal cliché. But while it singles out Africa, there are actually starving people all over the world. In fact, out of the world population, which is approaching 7 billion people, an estimated 870 million suffer each day from hunger, according to the World Food Program. What is more traumatic is that in many places, Egypt included, huge amounts of food are wasted.

61414411_2380671358638211_5866078049547583488_nJust watch an affluent wedding buffet in a five-star hotel. The amount of food thrown out after being served on the dinner tables is staggering. This wasted food by the haves can easily help provide enough meals to the have nots, if managed properly. That’s the essence of Menna Shahin’s new project, Tekeya.

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Menna Shahin

Brainchild of Shahin, Tekeya is a mobile app that creates an online platform that facilitates the process of distributing surplus food from providers and making it easily accessible to consumers. As a first stage, food providers will include grocery stores and restaurants in Cairo and Giza. “Egypt is one of the biggest food wasters in the world, representing 73kg of food wasted per person every year. Not only does the waste of food create a burden on the environment through CO2 emissions, but equally it leaves providers with excess food, a loss of potential income and consumers without meals they could afford,” explained Shahin in a press release from the UAE where she lives.

Through the app, food providers will upload information about their excess food products to  sell at a reduced price. It will also help consumers across various layers of the society to enjoy a meal for a reasonable price, whilst fighting the waste of food and protecting the environment. Charitable organizations will also benefit from the app, which will give the opportunity for food providers to donate food, at no cost, to charitable organizations.

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Photo courtesy World Food Program

Tekeya’s vision is to become a world leading platform that brings together all stakeholders involved across the Food Value Chain, from Public Institutions, NGO’s, Charity Organisations to Privately held Businesses, towards a more sustainable society.

Menna Shahin is a pharmacist and an entrepreneur. She works for a multi-national pharmaceutical company in the UAE. She is also the founder of She Travels, an initiative that empowers women through traveling

Check Tekeya and She Travels Facebook page here and here

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5 comments

  1. amazing. i had the idea long time back even during my wedding i instructed to distribute all the remaining food to poor people. I have an additional idea’s related to the same topic but i do not have the connections. You can drop me a message on my FB or linked in account (Naguib ELFashny) and i’m happy to provide all the details.

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