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Sierra Leone

The Problem of Malnutrition in Malawi

In Malawi, a peaceful, land-locked country of 14 million people in sub-Sahara Africa, 85% of adults are subsistence farmers, and 70% of all children are malnourished. This is because they are fed a low-nutrient diet of corn paste, the only food available in rural Malawi for much of the year. Until recently, 23% of Malawi's children died before their fifth birthdays. Malnourished children were brought to Nutritional Rehab Units (NRUs) -- overcrowded, unsanitary hospitals, where they received a milk-based formula that offered a dismal recovery rate of 25%. Many children were turned away. Those who stayed could only do so if an adult stayed with them. This kept mothers away from their fields, subjecting entire families to additional risk.

Thanks to Project Peanut Butter and the introduction of RUTF home-based therapy, recovery rates have skyrocketed to 90%.