With funding from the French Embassy, UNICEF supports the private sector in the fight against chronic malnutrition in children under 5 by Akeza Labelle Bella
The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Tumaini company is an industrial conglomerate based in Muyinga, which produces flour with high nutritional value. It is one of the 5 SMEs that have received financial support from UNICEF as part of the project “FARNUT-UBWIZA BUCA MUKANWA: Active and Responsible Women in the fight against malnutrition’’. A project that aims to support SMEs in the production of high nutritional value products for the multisectoral fight against chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years old in Burundi.
‘’Good nutrition is essential in the life of our children and in the community in general, we have chosen to invest in this area to try to multiply the accessibility and availability of foods with high nutritional value, in order to contribute to the reduction of food and nutritional insecurity through the identification and production of foods and local products with high nutritional value for the feeding of young children from 6 months,’’ explains Waleed Nzobonankira, Head of Production and Quality at Tumaini Company.
Availability and access to nutritious food remains a challenge for many households. More than 67% of the Burundian population cannot afford a nutritious diet on the market. Women and children are disproportionately affected by food and nutrition insecurity due to gender inequality and structural vulnerabilities. With more than 50% stunting in children under five, Burundi is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of stunting, far exceeding World Health Organization thresholds. Muyinga is one of the most severely nutritionally insecure provinces with multifaceted underlying factors such as poverty, limited access to foods rich in micronutrients such as vitamin A, protein, and iron.
The project supported small and medium enterprises in the production, monitoring, certification, and standardization of high nutritional value complementary foods for children under 5 years of age. This in compliance with the standards of hygiene and production, while providing the necessary nutritional needs for the development of the child.
‘’The training we received through the project has improved the quality and speed of our work, which in turn has improved our productivity. Before, it used to take us at least 5 days to fulfill an order, now it only takes 24 hours, for example, we used to produce 2 tons per week, now we produce 6. In addition to the training, we received machines with advanced technology, which allowed us to do all this,’’ explained Waleed.
The Tumaini Company has a recognized experience in the production of food with high nutritional value, and strictly follows its own manufacturing protocol.
‘’Our porridge is composed of sorghum, soy, corn and wheat, we pay a lot of attention to the measures given by the Burundian Bureau of Standardization (BBN), and we thank UNICEF for all the support provided,” said Waleed.
Citegetse Jacqueline is a beneficiary of the project because her child consumes this porridge of flours with high nutritional value. ‘’We enjoyed the porridge very much, although the amount we received was minimal, because we had to share with others who had the same problem as us, as there are many of us here in our community. The changes in our children were quick to show, my son went from 6 kg to 7.5 kg in two weeks, he has become much more active. We thank the donors and their partners,’’ says Jacqueline.
Thanks to funding from the French Embassy, UNICEF has also provided technical and financial support to Tumaini Company in terms of sensitization on good feeding practices for infants and young children, on the nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and on the use of new products with high nutritional value developed by the SME.
Source: https://www.unicef.org/burundi/stories/innovative-step-fight-against-malnutrition
