Hershey Partners with Project Peanut Butter to Reduce Malnutrition Among Children in Rural Ghana

ACCRA, Ghana, Dec. 10, 2012 /3BL Media/ - With funding from The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY), Project Peanut Butter announced today that it will make and distribute vitamin-enriched nutritional packets to impoverished children in rural Ghana.

Through Project Peanut Butter, children in rural Ghana will receive nutrients to increase their strength, foster growth and reduce their vulnerability to diseases. Childhood malnutrition levels in sub-Sahara Africa, an area that includes Ghana, are the highest in the world.

“Accelerating the production and distribution of nutrient-rich food is critical to improving the lives of at-risk rural children,” said Dr. Mark Manary, founder of Project Peanut Butter, a pediatrician and a professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. “I am thrilled to partner with Hershey to bring this life-saving program to the rural villages of Ghana, where poverty causes malnourishment among children.”

For many years, Hershey has supported education and community development programs in rural Ghana, which is a leading cocoa producing country. Hershey will fund the construction of a Project Peanut Butter factory in Ghana to produce the peanut-based Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs). Project Peanut Butter will distribute the RUTFs to relief agencies, who provide the product to malnourished children in Ghana at no cost to them or their families. 

More than a decade ago, Dr. Manary helped develop RUTFs, which are peanut-based, vitamin enriched nutritional packets that have resulted in 95 percent of children recovering from malnourishment compared to 25 to 40 percent from traditional hospital therapies. Project Peanut Butter is now operating in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Mali. 

Ghana is one of the top 10 peanut producing countries in the world and has a robust and growing peanut farming industry. Project Peanut Butter’s local partners will source all peanuts within Ghana, providing thousands of small-holder Ghanaian peanut farmers with a new market for their crops. Hershey will be assisting the Project Peanut Butter team through the company’s expertise in sourcing and processing peanuts.

While Ghana has one of the strongest emerging economies in Africa, food insecurity still persists in rural areas due to unstable production, insufficient purchasing power and bad roads. Nutrient deficiencies are worse in children under five years, particularly in infants after the transition from exclusive breastfeeding to complementary feeding.

While the number of acres for Ghana peanuts has significantly increased in recent years, production is limited by current growing practices because few farmers use optimal farming techniques. The Project Peanut Butter program in Ghana will work to improve the peanut farming sector by providing farmers with access to higher quality inputs and better planting and harvest techniques.       

“Because of our experience in peanut processing and our commitment to improving communities in West Africa, Project Peanut Butter is an exciting project for us,” said Michele Buck, Hershey’s Senior Vice President, Chief Growth Officer. “We are honored to be working with Dr. Manary and his dedicated team in reducing childhood malnutrition.”

Dr. Manary started Project Peanut Butter in Malawi and has committed his life to solving childhood malnutrition. “Project Peanut Butter Ghana will both address the urgent need to reduce malnourishment among children and increase the capacity of peanut farming to be a source of food long into the future,“ added Dr. Manary.     

About Project Peanut Butter

Project Peanut Butter is a revolutionary therapeutic program founded by Dr. Mark Manary, a medical doctor and a professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. It has been called the most effective method to treat malnourished children around the world. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Manary and his teams tested various formulas with thousands of malnourished children in Malawi, Africa. Today, Project Peanut Butter serves thousand of malnourished children. The program distributes peanut-based, vitamin enriched nutritional packets called Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) through 21 clinics, approximately 50 supported sites that receive RUTFs and training at no cost, and at affiliated clinics that receive RUTFs through approximately 90 governments and charities around the world that buy the packets at cost of manufacture.   

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Headquartered in Hershey, Pa., The Hershey Company has operations throughout the world and approximately 13,000 employees. With revenues of more than $6 billion, Hershey offers confectionery products under more than 80 brand names, including such iconic brands as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Hershey's Bliss, Hershey's Special Dark, Kit Kat, Twizzlers, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers.  Hershey also offers premium and artisan chocolate products under such brands as Scharffen Berger and Dagoba through the Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary.  The company is focused on growing its presence in key international markets such as China and Mexico while continuing to build its competitive advantage in the United States and Canada.

For more than 100 years, The Hershey Company has been a leader in making a positive difference in the communities where its employees live, work and do business. Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of the company’s global business strategy, which includes goals and priorities focused on fair and ethical business dealings, environmental stewardship, fostering a desirable workplace for employees, and positively impacting society and local communities. Milton Hershey School, established in 1909 by the company's founder provides a quality education, housing, and medical care at no cost to children in social and financial need. Students of Milton Hershey School are direct beneficiaries of The Hershey Company's success.