Nov. 17, 2023 (RHODE ISLAND) — Every 11 seconds a child dies from malnutrition despite it being a preventable condition. The increase in climate catastrophes, conflicts and economic disruptions has exacerbated malnutrition around the world. The good news is that we have a solution: Plumpy’Nut, a nutrient-packed food that has a 92% success rate for curing severe acute malnutrition in as little as eight weeks. Edesia Nutrition, a nonprofit social enterprise that produces Plumpy’Nut for millions of children in more than 60 countries, is now poised to double its production and champion a focus on prevention. Thanks to a transformational gift from the Bezos family, Edesia will help save millions of lives — making malnutrition history.
“Ending malnutrition isn’t just a slogan. It’s our plan,” explains Navyn Salem, Edesia founder and CEO. “There are many problems in the world that we don’t know how to solve. Malnutrition is not one of them. We know what we need to do: Get life-saving food to children who are acutely malnourished or are at risk of becoming so. Thanks to this gift, Edesia is positioned to do just that. We can take these resources and mount a global malnutrition effort so that children don’t die from this preventable condition.”
Since 2010, Edesia’s dedicated and experienced team, from 25 countries, has been operating around the clock to produce life-saving foods that target the different stages of malnutrition. Partnering with humanitarian aid organizations like USAID, UNICEF and the World Food Programme, Edesia has saved 22 million lives to date and serves 5 million children annually. It will now be able to double its impact and reach 10 million children every year because of this gift.
“More healthy and well-nourished kids mean a bright future for all of us and this investment in Edesia will allow them to reach even more children with this life-saving intervention,” said Mike Bezos.
With this generous gift – one of the biggest single donations to fight malnutrition – Edesia will be:
1. Making more nutrition-packed food to save lives. Edesia will double its capacity and lower prices by expanding its facility in Rhode Island to include more storage capacity, rail access, and production lines. Edesia will also add a minimum of 50 new jobs.
2. Championing a focus on preventing malnutrition. Reaching children earlier, before they become severely malnourished, is critical. We cannot wait until children are weeks away from dying. Edesia will advocate for critical policy and protocol changes, invest in innovative new products, support research around prevention, and add production lines.
3. Urging governments to take the issue of malnutrition seriously. When the war in Ukraine cut off major food supply chains, it was a major wake-up call for many governments around the world. Climate change, conflict, and poverty impact food security every day. Edesia will continue to push global leaders to invest in sustainable and long-term approaches to meeting this challenge.
This gift from the Bezos family includes a $10 million matching fund to be launched on Giving Tuesday, November 28.
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About Edesia
Edesia is a nonprofit social enterprise with one goal: to end malnutrition. Our team of 150 people from 25 countries around the globe works night and day to produce life-saving foods for malnourished children in partnership with humanitarian agencies working in emergency and conflict zones. To learn more, visit edesianutrition.org.