Investing in Micronutrient-Fortified Food Aid Products to Improve Nutrition for Vulnerable Populations

On December 6, USDA announced more than $8.5 million in grants to help six organizations develop improved micronutrient fortified food aid products under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Grant recipients will focus their efforts over the next three years in six countries, including five Feed the Future focus countries (Cambodia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mozambique, and Tanzania). Under the pilot program, participants will develop and field test micronutrient fortified food aid products specifically designed for school-aged children, pregnant and lactating women, and children under 5 years of age in the hope of identifying new, more nutritionally effective products to be distributed through the McGovern-Dole Program.

Two of the six grants focus on piloting new food aid products aimed directly at improving nutrition and health for mothers and children in the 1,000 days between pregnancy and age two when better nutrition can have a life-changing impact on a child’s future.

For example, Kansas State University, working in collaboration with Project Concern International in Tanzania, will develop and field test new formulations of three fortified blended foods. These foods (sorghum-soybean, sorghum-cowpea and corn-soy blends) will be made into porridge mixes that can be used for supplemental feeding and nutrition programs for infants and children under 5.