Nutrition For Zero Hunger's Continued Impact
By John Agwunobi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Great organizations are defined by their desire to positively impact people’s lives. Our focus on improving communities guides our actions as a trusted and socially responsible nutrition company, and Herbalife Nutrition has helped people enhance their lives through good nutrition and an economic opportunity for over 40 years.
We also recognize our important role in helping vulnerable communities. One of the ways we do this is through Nutrition For Zero Hunger (NFZH). This initiative aims to solve the immense challenges resulting from hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity, and it’s helping us make an impact. NFZH also aligns with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 – Zero Hunger: an objective to end hunger in all of its forms by 2030. This goal is even more critical as the world deals with an impending food crisis exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, climate change, and global conflict.
A world without hunger is a lofty goal, but we believe it is achievable, and we are grateful to our Nutrition For Zero Hunger partners who share our passion in solving this issue. Herbalife Nutrition supports NFZH and its partners through both financial and in-kind donations such as nutrition products and supplies. The Herbalife Nutrition Foundation (HNF), an independent public charity that joins Herbalife Nutrition in certain initiatives, also makes financial donations to our NFZH partners. These organizations specialize in reducing hunger by providing access to nutritious foods and nutrition education. Over the past year, we have made incredible progress – but there is still a long way to go.
Supporting nutrition education will continue to be a key focus of NFZH. Knowledge can be empowering, but it isn’t always easy to find credible, trusted information. An example of this is a new mother navigating a child’s first 1,000 days – a formative time period from birth to about two years of age, where nutrition has the greatest impact on future health and potential. Our partners are helping women and families get the information they need. Feed the Children, for example, teaches mothers how to prepare meals that include essential vitamins and nutrients for growing bodies, and they also promote the benefits of breastfeeding. Another example is The Hunger Project, an organization that helps to organize workshops led by healthcare professionals who explain the fundamentals of nutrition for both children and mothers.
Giving somebody a meal can provide immediate nourishment, which is critical but targeting root causes of hunger, such as climate, poverty, conflict, and gender inequality, can lead to more sustainable progress. NFZH is committed to addressing these root causes by investing in local communities. This is why HNF and Herbalife Nutrition have partnered with World Food Program USA (WFPUSA), an organization that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its valiant efforts in fighting hunger. In the past three years of partnership, HNF has donated $1 million to WFPUSA. Through this effort, approximately 1 million meals and aid reached more than 14,000 people and families around the globe.
NFZH has also made notable strides in how it supports communities. Our community of employees and independent distributors has shown up in full force to make a difference through local and regional programs such as food drives and donation events. In our Central and South America region, employees and distributors from 16 markets led an effort to participate in food drives supporting World Food Day 2021. They collected more than 900 boxes of food – that’s more than 23,000 pounds that went to 17 local food banks, non-profit and community organizations. Our community is also making a difference in India, where year-round food drives are continuously organized for dry goods donations such as rice and beans. Team Herbalife Nutrition has also donated to the country’s SOS Children’s Villages, which support the holistic development of orphaned children as well as families.
I am optimistic that NFZH will create even more opportunities to foster stronger relationships and deliver sustainable progress as part of our larger global responsibility pillar to Nourish Healthy Communities. In 2021, we saw the difference that NFZH is making around the world. The initiative reached 164 million beneficiaries through our partners worldwide in more than 80 countries, and 1.5 million meals, kilograms of food, and food boxes were donated.
But there’s more to come. In Europe & Africa, HNF has partnered with The Power of Nutrition and The World Bank. This collaboration complements our NFZH campaign, and will facilitate nutritious food donations for children living in poverty, provide stronger healthcare delivery through incentive payments and local grants, as well as support for the flagship Community Health Worker (CHW) program.
Seeing how NFZH will evolve in 2022 and beyond, both through current and future partnerships, is incredibly exciting in our push to build progress. Every impact adds to our 50 by 50 initiative, where we aim to achieve 50 million positive impacts by our 50th Anniversary in 2030. I’m thrilled to share that in the first two years of this initiative, NFZH has helped contribute to the overall total of 14.7 million Positive Impacts achieved since 2020. With our global community behind us, we will continue our fight to eliminate hunger and contribute to a brighter future.
