Global partnership between WFP and DSM/SIGHT AND LIFE to improve and increase access to nutritious food for the poor and in emergencies
In 2007, DSM, through SIGHT AND LIFE, donated a six-month supply of multimicronutrient powder (MNP) as well as provided financial support to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to implement, monitor and evaluate a pilot initiative to use MNP in WFP's school feeding programs around the world. This marked the start of a global humanitarian partnership between DSM/SIGHT AND LIFE and WFP to improve and increase access to nutritious food for people in poor countries and during humanitarian crises.
"We are thrilled about the partnership with DSM," said form WFP Executive Director James Morris. "Every four seconds, a person dies of hunger and its related diseases. If we can ensure better nutrition for the millions of people we serve, then we are not only saving lives, but also better ensuring healthy and productive futures."
As the largest organizer of school feeding programs in the developing world, WFP implements its Food for Education (FFE) programs in schools in areas vulnerable to economic shocks and food insecurity as well as in areas affected by an emergency. When children reach school age (5-14 years old), sound nutrition, both in terms of the quantity and quality of foods consumed, continues to be important for their cognitive development and, consequently, for maximizing their lifetime potential.
Recognizing the need to provide high quality food to beneficiaries not only through balanced rations, WFP adds nutritional value through micronutrient fortification. The addition of micronutrient powder (MNP) to a meal is an efficacious way to improve the vitamin and mineral content of the meal, and would be a particularly useful intervention in school feeding programs where locally availbale foods are used.
SIGHT AND LIFE proposed to support piloting the use of an MNP, unter the brand name SprinklesTM , in the WFP FFE program in two countries, Cambodia and Tanzania, which led to the financial and product donations of the further developed MNP MixMeTM in 2007.
In October 2008, DSM and WFP have won the ICIS Award for Business Innovation for the joint developed MixMeTM sachets. It was developed to provide people in developing countries with micronutrients that can be easily mixed with food at home. This "home fortification" is a novel approach to the enrichment of food with micronutrients, as food is usally fortified industrially during the processing stage.
Read more about the ICIS award under http://www.icis.com/Assets/GetAsset.aspx?ItemID=21661.
Mr. Feike Sijbesma, former President of SIGHT AND LIFE and CEO of DSM stated: "Solving malnutrition and hunger are ciritical to achieving the United Nations Millenium Development Goals...Companies in the life sciences sector, with their expertise and leadership, can serve as a driving force to tackle these problems."
