plumpy'nut® plumpyfield®

On the occasion of World Food Day, Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD), and Nutriset sign a funding convention and partnership agreement for the geographic extension of the local production of Plumpy’Nut® type food, products which have revolutionised the prevention and treatment of the different forms of infantile malnutrition in developing countries. Objective: facilitate access to these products for the most vulnerable populations by strengthening local agro-industry stakeholders’ role.

On October 15 in Paris Michel Lescanne (CEO of Nutriset), Dov Zerah (General Director of AFD) and Luc Rigouzzo (General Director of Proparco) signed a funding convention in the amount of €2 million agreed to between Proparco and Nutriset, as well as a partnership agreement uniting both groups.

Since 2005, Nutriset has aimed to facilitate access and availability in the field to this type of product by the most vulnerable populations via a network of partner companies called PlumpyField.

Proparco intervenes in the development of this network that currently counts 11 members on 4 continents. The financial participation of Proparco consists in granting convertible bonds in the amount of €2M. Accompanied by other commercial banks, this project for the extension of the PlumpyField network will last 7 years. It will enable production to be increased from about 8,000 tonnes in 2009 to nearly 40,000 tonnes in 2014.

“The convention and partnership signed today with Proparco and AFD strengthens us in our support strategy to developing countries focused on aid in building their own nutritional autonomy. This autonomy aims for a greater capacity of countries to manage nutritional crises independently through a national response. This funding agreement and the partnership will provide significant support to our initiative to expand our PlumpyField network that already includes 11 members united in the fight against malnutrition.

I am also delighted to illustrate here the complementary nature of our combined know-how; that of Proparco and AFD in financing and development support; that of Nutriset which in the last 25 years has developed original solutions in the fight against malnutrition’’, states Michel Lescanne, CEO of Nutriset.

“We feel that this initiative is exemplary in more than one respect. First it was born of the imagination, commitment and know-how of a French company. Then in an unhoped-for way it meets the challenges of infantile malnutrition in the poorest countries. Finally, the development of production in countries suffering from the scourge of malnutrition, particularly African, means that now food emergencies will coincide with the sustainable development of agricultural streams essential to the growth of these countries”, declared Mr. Dov Zerah, General Director of AFD.

“The development of the production of Plumpy’nut should allow nearly 5 million children suffering from severe or moderate malnutrition to be treated in 2014. This is a striking example of the synergy possible between the capacity for innovation of the private sector and its effects on development, even regarding social issues”, according to Luc Rigouzzo, General Director of Proparco.

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