Good afternoon.
I am going to speak in French because I am lucky enough to be able to do so. First, I would like to thank the committee for inviting us. We are flattered to be here with you today.
Nutriset is a company that was started in 1986 by Michel Lescanne, my dad. We are a family company that, for 30 years, has been working to solve problems associated with malnutrition.
We developed a product called Plumpy'Nut, now known generically as an RUTF. As a product, it is a little more complex than peanut paste. Its formula meets the specific needs of children suffering from severe malnutrition.
Here is how it all started. We began by developing what are known as therapeutic milk products with very specific formulas. Unfortunately, those formulas had to be prepared with water. That was very complicated for hospitals to do. So, in 1996, we developed a ready-to-use product. Today, 25 million children around the world use the product.
We also developed the PlumpyField network. We did not want to make all our products in France; we wanted to give the countries we were targeting the opportunity to have their own production so that they could meet their own needs.
Today, we have partners who are manufacturing the product using the same international quality standards as those in France or the United States. Those partners are audited by the same auditors and verified by the same people from the United Nations.
We have partner plants to which we transfer our expertise. The plants are in Haiti, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Ethiopia, Madagascar and India. We are very proud of the fact that, in 2012, all Niger's needs were met using local production. No product came from France or the United States. In 2012, the plant in Niger was able to meet 100% of the country's needs.
This local production has to reflect product processing in terms of the recurring demand. If those countries could respond in times of major crisis, they would be overproducing for the rest of the time. Instead, we need the ability to respond to recurring levels of malnutrition. Today, malnutrition must be seen as a childhood disease like any other, not as an emergency at any given time.
Every year, countries where we have partners, like Niger, Burkina Faso and Sudan, as well as other countries where we do not have partners, have major needs in the order of 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of product. So there has to be a local production. This also provides the opportunity to develop a high-quality, local agriculture industry using local ingredients. With a lot of research, it is possible to use those local ingredients instead of simply using formulas that have been developed in the north.
What we have managed to do with Plumpy'Nut is fantastic; we are saving children. Unfortunately, when a child is diagnosed with acute malnutrition, it is too late. The symptoms are irreversible. I think that everyone agrees that the need is for prevention. We mainly talk in terms of the first 1,000 days, meaning from the time when a woman becomes pregnant until the child is two years old. We have been working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for five years to develop preventative products. They have been tested in Malawi, Ghana and Burkina Faso. The results were published in Rome last week.
We now have products for pregnant and breastfeeding women and products that will prevent children older than six months from becoming malnourished. Nutrition alone is not enough. There must also be prevention. This must be done in association with WASH programs, the treatment of malaria, vaccination, breastfeeding, and so on.
We know today that those products, because of the omega-3 and other ingredients they contain in addition to the micronutrients, allow children's bodies to better absorb the micronutrients: this greatly improves their cognitive and motor development.
These products are not magic, as Plumpy'Nut is; with it, we have seen a child who was going to die instantaneously saved. Actually, you don't see anything. That is what prevention is all about. But that is where we have to start, because if we do not, it is already too late.
Thank you.