A Pioneering Global Partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP)
As the world leader in taste and nutrition, Kerry understands the importance of a diverse diet for a healthy, happy lifestyle. There is enough food in the world for everyone, yet 821 million people around the world still struggle to meet their daily food needs and up to 1 in 4 children suffer developmental stunting as a result of under nutrition.
We are proud to have the opportunity to share our dairy knowledge and nutritional expertise with WFP in a new pioneering partnership, Project Leche.
What is Project Leche?
Project Leche is a pioneering three-year partnership between Kerry and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the leading humanitarian organisation fighting hunger worldwide, that leverages our dairy heritage and nutritional capabilities to ensure that more sustainable dairy products are included in WFP’s school meals programme for children. This pilot project will take place in the Dry Corridor region of Honduras.
Kerry is providing extensive nutritional, agricultural, quality and processing expertise together with a direct financial contribution totaling $750,000.
“As the first Irish corporate partner of WFP, we are extremely proud of our involvement with this programme. It leverages many of our core strengths to help address an important global issue.”
What is the World Food Programme?
WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations. It is the leading humanitarian organisation fighting hunger worldwide, providing:
- Food assistance on an annual basis to some 80m people in approximately 80 countries
- Safe nutritious meals to nearly 18m school children annually
WFP in Honduras
WFP has been supporting Honduran communities since 1970 and a core element of their work is the School Meals Programme. Funded largely by the Honduran Government and managed by WFP, this programme:
- Provides meals to 95% of the country’s total school population
- Supports access to education and reduces gender inequality, giving families an incentive to send their children to school
- WFP’s Home Grown School Meals (HGSM) Programme goes one step further by purchasing food from small, local producers whenever possible, helping to strengthen local economies
Honduras
- Natural disasters affect the ability of subsistence farmers to produce enough food to feed their families
- One in four children have chronic malnutrition
- Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with a population of 8.9m people
Learn more about Project Leche
1. Build a Sustainable Milk Supply
Born out of the cooperative movement in South West Ireland, Kerry has proud roots in sustainable agricultural production and community development. With 45 years’ experience in dairy, we will share our technical expertise with Honduran farmers so that they can learn from the knowledge we have acquired over that time.
Our colleagues from the Group’s Agribusiness division will work with WFP personnel to examine how the sustainability of smallholder farms can be improved and how the milk that is produced can be safely stored and processed.
2. Increase the Nutritional Value of School Meals
The key aim of the programme is to nutritionally optimise the school meals provided to Honduran children through the inclusion of dairy products. In collaboration with our leading nutritionists, WFP will incorporate these dairy ingredients to provide healthier, more diverse meals in local schools.
Not only will this benefit the school children, but by sourcing the milk locally we will also help create a sustainable market for smallholder farmers in the community.
Photo ©WFP/Hetze Tosta
3. Promote Nutritional Awareness
In addition to making a direct impact on children’s diets though improving school meals, we also want to increase the level of nutritional awareness amongst children, parents and teachers.
By educating communities on the sources of key nutrients and the benefits of a balanced, healthy diet, we aim to create an awareness of good nutrition that will endure long after the project has been completed.
Photo ©WFP/Hetze Tosta
