DSM, Ingredion and Tetra Pak join forces to feed 2.4M malnourished Kenyan children with “super porridge”

25 Sep 2023 --- In a “first-of-its-kind” public-private partnership in Africa, industry players DSM, Ingredion and Tetra Pak have pooled resources together with the Kenyan government to supply 50,000 malnourished school children with a ready-to-drink “super porridge” in 2023.

The ready-to-drink porridge is sweetened using a sweetener produced from the stevia plant, is fortified with 15 micronutrients and processed and packed in a Tetra Brik aseptic 250 ml pack with a straw. The partnership aims to scale up to 100,000 in 2024, reaching 2.4 million children by 2025. 

The initiative will also support local economies by contracting 2,000 small-scale farmers to supply the beverage’s raw materials. The drink is made from locally sourced crops, including maize, soybeans, sorghum and sweet potato.

“The core objective was formulating an affordable and nutritious product, based on climate resilient crops with a minimum six months’ shelf life,” says Kennedy Ouma, director of Africa and Middle East at Ingredion. 

“Ease of distribution and storage [were vital], as the arid regions of Kenya lack clean water and cold storage due to lack of electricity. Developing a nutritious product with a taste and texture that children like was also important.” 

The shelf-stable beverage is made from locally grown maize, soybeans, sorghum and sweet potato.He states that Ingredion’s role was to provide the stabilizing, texturizing and sweetening solutions expertise, which was done through numerous trials by its teams in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Luebeck (Germany) idea labs and pilot plant facilities.

The Ministry of Education funds the project via the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK). It aims to combat hunger and malnutrition in children in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya and improve school attendance and educational performance. 

Around three million children drop out of school yearly due to drought in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions. Data on school attendance, educational performance and the health and physical development of the children will be collected as part of the impact assessment.

Part of the program comprises training on food safety, product storage and hygiene, while the project’s used carton packaging will be recycled and converted into boards that will be used to make chairs and desks, which will be donated to the schools covered in the program.

The initiative not only promises a brighter future for these children but also serves as a potential model for combating malnutrition on a larger scale in Kenya and beyond.

The project involves the Kenya Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, alongside NACONEK, DSM, Ingredion, Jetlak Foods, Qatar Foundation, Tetra Pak, Unibrain Industries and UNICEF.

Earlier this year, Tetra Pak joined forces with one of Yemen’s largest private companies Hayel Saeed Anam (HSA) Group, to pilot the provision of fortified flavored milk in school feeding programs, helping respond to under- and malnutrition in the country.

Edited by Missy Green