In the weeks since the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, we have all read heartbreaking stories, like this one in the New York Times, about the millions of Haitians left struggling to meet basic daily needs. So I was heartened to see an announcement from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition regarding their collaboration with the U.N. World Food Programme.
GAIN is donating $400,000 worth of its “premix,” a blend of vitamins and minerals that provides added nutritional value to foods, to the WFP for its aid efforts in Haiti. GAIN is one of the leading organizations in the area of nutrition and a partner of the Opportunities of the Majority initiative, so I was curious to learn more about this “premix” . In 2003, GAIN started its “National Fortification Program,” which works with countries to provide what might be called “value added” basic foodstuffs to needy citizens. For example, GAIN offers maize meal fortified with folic acid, and fish sauce with added iron. These simple ingredients can have powerful effects: in South Africa, the folic acid in the cornmeal has helped reduce neural tube defects in infants by 30%.
Last year, GAIN founded a “premix facility” in order to produce valuable nutritional supplements and make them readily available wherever they are needed. Through the facility, GAIN can acquire materials from international suppliers and produce premix blends in bulk, thereby saving on manufacturing and distribution costs.GAIN is currently inviting vitamin and mineral companies to submit expressions of interest in becoming suppliers or producers of the premix blend. This is a perfect example of the kind of opportunities businesses now have to reach consumers at the base of the pyramid. Vitamin-enhanced porridge or vegetable oil may not be the kind of products that are advertised in glossy fitness magazines, but they will help keep millions of people alive, in Haiti and beyond. So, selling materials to GAIN opens up new markets for these companies, and will allow them to engage in the rewarding work of improving the lives of the world’s poorest people.
The IDB, GAIN and FEMSA are working together along these lines, and in 2009 launched a study that will map existing private sector involvement in addressing hunger among low-income populations across Latin America, and identify potential areas for improved cooperation and distribution networks.
Tomorrow when I swallow my daily multivitamin, I’ll think about how organizations like GAIN, the IDB, and WFP, along with the private sector, can work together to help countries like Haiti survive the challenge of malnutrition.
Elizabeth Terry is an editor at MajorityMarkets.org.
