Food Link: A Real-Time Digital Food Donation and Distribution Platform

Abstract

Food wastage is a major global challenge, especially in developing countries where large quantities of edible food are discarded daily while many people struggle with hunger. The increasing gap between food surplus and food scarcity highlights the urgent need for an efficient system that can connect individuals or organisations possessing excess food with those who are in need. Traditional food-donation systems depend heavily on manual coordination, physical communication, and slow processes, resulting in delayed delivery, mismanagement, or wastage. The Food Link System is a digital food-donation and distribution platform developed using Python, Streamlit, and SQLite that enables donors to contribute leftover or excess food and allows receivers to request and collect food efficiently. The system eliminates manual dependencies by providing a real-time, automated, and user-friendly application that ensures food reaches the needy in the shortest possible time, and it brings all key stakeholders—donors, receivers, and administrators—onto a single unified interface. Donors can list food items, specify quantity, provide pickup location, and receive delivery updates; receivers can view available food items and request them instantly; and an Admin Analytics Panel provides insights into user data, donations, and request statistics through visual charts. The prototype is implemented in Python with a Streamlit user interface and an SQLite database (foodlink.db), and was validated through more than forty functional, validation, security, performance, and UI test cases spanning authentication, donor, receiver, admin, and analytics modules, all of which passed. By automating the donation lifecycle—from listing food to final delivery confirmation— the Food Link System acts as a smart digital bridge that connects surplus-food donors with individuals who require assistance.