The Role of Business in Providing Nutrient-Rich Foods for the Poor: A Case Study in Tanzania

Abstract

This case study of a Tanzanian food processing business analyses the potential of mid-sized businesses to contribute to tackling undernutrition. Particularly among young children and pregnant mothers, undernutrition has lifelong consequences and impedes individuals’ health, wellbeing and life chances. Providing nutrients through food is one way to reduce undernutrition, in conjunction with improvements in health and sanitation. This report examines how private companies can contribute to producing and delivering nutrient-rich foods to undernourished populations, as well as the constraints they face in doing so. It offers recommendations to governments, non-profit organisations and other development actors on how to collaborate with businesses in this area to catalyse their potential. The study examines the case of Power Foods Limited, a midsize company, and the first in Tanzania to produce fortified nutrient-rich foods from traditional crops. It is also the first local company to produce ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), used for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition