Innovation in Food Aid
Obtaining nutritious and safe food in areas of famine is often next to impossible for local people.
Nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 are caused by undernutrition. This culminates in a loss of about 3 million young lives a year.
While food aid is often criticised and is widely considered only a short term solution, in areas of famine with large populations of undernourished people food aid can save lives. Innovation in food aid has allowed the food provided to become safer, easier to transport, more effective and cheaper to produce.
An early and important example of one of these food innovations is Plumpy'Nut, a ready-to-eat packet of highly-nutritious food which can cure a severely malnourished child in a matter of weeks.
It is a type of ‘Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food’ which are essential in solving cases of extreme malnutrition. Plumpy’nut was invented in 1996 by André Briend (a French paediatric nutritionist) and Michel Lescanne (a food-processing engineer) for the company Nutriset, which now holds the patent for the product.
It is a peanut paste improved with milk, sugar, vegetable fat and enriched with vitamins and micronutrients.
It is high in calories promoting the restoration and maintenance of healthy body weight.
Peanut allergies have not been an issue because there is a lack of allergic reactions in the target population of Plumpy’nut.
"Plumpy'Nut, a ready-to-eat packet of highly-nutritious food which can cure a severely malnourished child in a matter of weeks. "