Minimising food loss with delicious, healthy snacks
Undernutrition continues to be a major challenge in Pakistan. Despite some improvement over the past few years, the most recent Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey1 still found stunting in 38% of children under five years of age, with 17% severely stunted. Among children aged six to 12 months, only 13% receive the minimum acceptable diet. Micronutrient deficiency is a widespread problem for children and pregnant women. The survey also shows a strong correlation between undernutrition and a low income.
To help improve this situation, we are collaborating with our partners in the GAIN Nordic Partnership and food manufacturers in Pakistan to establish local value chains for the production and commercialisation of nutritious and affordable foods.
Two projects have been initiated:
- Whey2Value focuses on transforming the whey side streams of cheese dairies into a healthy drink. Project period: 2024 to 2029.
- The Nutritious Fruit Bar project was launched to utilise surplus fruit in collaboration with local food manufacturers, including Himalayan Foods and NIBL Foods . The project followed earlier work to reduce post-harvest loss of papayas in Ethiopia. Project period: 2024 to 2025.
The SUN Business Network supports us in scaling up the affordable nutrition business models we develop.
1. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018 https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR354/FR354.pdf
