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Project Peanut Butter
Sub-Saharan Africa
Project Peanut Butter
Project Coordinator:
Dr. Mark Manary
Project Overview:
Project Peanut Butter (Blantyre, MALAWI) provides nutrition to malnourished children by providing them with fortified peanut butter after they have been treated for malnutrition at the hospital. Dr. Mark Manary, founder and coordinator of the project, found that while children receive nutrition supplements when hospitalized for malnutrition, upon release parents have limited resources to keep their children nourished. The project has expanded to using locally grown peanuts and members of the local community to produce the peanut butter, which is distributed at feeding sites located in villages throughout southern Malawi.
Recent Accomplishments:
Continued to expand the operational feeding project (administered through local Malawians)
Continued to see successful recovery rates for the children
Provided families with hard to obtain amenities such as soap and beans
Provided basic medical services to the sites
Development of new packaging to ensure highest quality of product
Completion of a major study at 12 centers of moderate to severe malnutrition
Number of People Directly Served by Project:
2927 children
Number of People Indirectly Served by Project:
The families and caretakers of the children and the general community at large
Goals for 2008:
Continue to grow in production and distribution of Ready to use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)
Expand to locations beyond Southern Malawi
IPM Funding Goal for 2008:
$3,000
Community Impact:
"Although thousands of children have been a part of the success stories of Project Peanut Butter, one child in particular shows the impact of the organization. On June 6, 2006 in Mahata Village, our project met a child named Rose. Rose was born on January 21, 2005 and weighed just 4.9 kg. At 17 months, she weighed approximately the amount of a newborn infant. Her mother had passed away, leaving her grandmother to care for her without sufficient food and no access to breast milk or baby formula. We provided Rose with the appropriate amount of RUTF and hoped that our efforts would prove timely enough to save her life. When we returned to Mahata one month later, Rose was there with her grandmother to greet us. Although still extremely underweight, she already showed significant improvement. She weight 5.775 kg, was more alert, and showed very positive response to food. This story is exactly the type of success that drives Project Peanut Butter forward. As we continue to develop new strategies in combating malnutrition, we are reminded of the benefits of this work by witnessing the power to change and save lives."
How your donation may be put to use:
$225 allows the program to purchase locally grown peanuts from a women’s cooperative to make ready-to-use therapeutic food for one month.