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Haiti - Health : Inauguration of a new production plant of «Medika Mamba»
27/10/2012 12:16:02

Friday, "Meds & Food for Kids" (MFK), a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis, that produces and distributes food to malnourished children in Haiti, proceeded to Cap-Haitien, at the inauguration of its new production plant of 18,000 square foot at the forefront of technology. The organization has raised $ 2.8 million from $ 3.2 million needed to finance the plant and benefited from a bridge loan for the difference, in order not to delay its production operations.

This facility enables the production of "Peanut Butter Medicine" or "Medika Mamba" (in Creole) which is an equivalent of Plumpy'nut (a peanut butter stuffed with protein, vitamins, minerals and of course fat. Formulated to replenish children malnourished).

The old facility of MFK, who was in a rented house converted, could produce "Medika Mamba" only to feed 8,000 children per year. With the new plant, production will be multiplied by 10 and help save 80,000 children per year, suffering from malnutrition in Haiti.

During construction, 60 people have found work and now, 22 people are employed to operate the plant and 3 more in agricultural programs. This year MFK sourced peanuts from 300 local farmers and look to expand to 400 or 500 next year.

The new plant, which produces between 10,000 and 15,000 kg of "Medika Mamba" per week, will support at term, a thousand peanut producers, in the compliance of large-scale production, of international humanitarian organizations, who buy and distribute the products of MFK including UNICEF, local malnutrition clinics, Partners in Health, and and soon the World Food Programme (WFP). MFK should become financially self-sustaining by 2015.

Moreover, MFK working on the extension of its range of nutritional products, and is currently testing the "Nutributter" to prevent malnutrition among infants aged 6-24 months. Moreover, MFK has received a grant from the USDA (National Nutrient Database for Standard), to develop and test a snack for students from this school year. "We anticipate that feeding kids a nutritious snack as they walk in the door in the morning will boost their educational performance and attendance, and decrease anemia and sick days," said an official of MFK.

Learn more about MFK :
Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) is a non-profit organization that produces ready to eat foods (RUF) in Haiti, Cap-Haitien. It was created in 2003 by Dr. Patricia Wolff, a St. Louis pediatrician in order to prevent and treat malnutrition in Haiti through local production and distribution of nutritional foods.

HL/ TB/ HaitiLibre