Sustainable and Scalable Funding of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Production

The leading cause of death in children under five is malnutrition, claiming 10,000 to 15,000 children every day. It is  unacceptable that in an era where we have the potential to feed everyone, economics and logistics leave many still dying of malnutrition.

Our project is centered on aiding the fight against malnutrition in children at key stages in their development via peanut butter-based ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). By producing gourmet, organic peanut butter and selling it to the U.S. consumer market, we can generate revenue and gain valuable experience in the production of peanut butter based products. This company will generate a sustainable and expandable source of funds to support RUTF production.

Once this stream of revenue is established, the profit will be used to fund Project Peanut Butter (PPB). Through its existing in-country RUTF production facility and logistical network in Malawi, PPB will use this funding to provide RUTF where it is most needed. Along with the immediate goal of helping to fund PPB, our venture will dedicate part of its proceeds and experience to countries in which sustainable RUTF initiatives do not exist. Our first target is Nepal, where a child dies of malnutrition every 14 minutes. We aim to establish a local RUTF production facility here, in collaboration with non-profit organizations working in the area.

First and foremost, our venture is aimed at decreasing the child mortality rate in the areas we operate in. We do this directly by funding the production of RUTF, which increases the survival of malnourished children from 25% to 90%, decreases the number of children that die of malnutrition. This is also accomplished indirectly as well nourished children are also less susceptible to illness, developmental deficiencies, and less likely to suffer complications from other illnesses. By decreasing childhood malnutrition we can increase the overall health of the next generation and improve their ability to improve the communities around them.

Secondary goals will be to provide an economic boost to communities at all points in the supply chain and to use, and demonstrate the benefits of, an environmentally friendly operation.

The success of our venture will be judged on strictly non-financial criteria: the impact on childhood malnutrition, the number of jobs created, the environmental friendliness of our operation, etc.