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Local Production
Project Peanut Butter operates a factory in Blantyre, Malawi dedicated to the production of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), This life-saving lipid/vitamin paste is distributed in rural villages by Project Peanut Butter medical teams, and is also made available for purchase at cost by relief agencies such as Unicef and Doctors Without Borders. The factory uses machinery that efficiently mixes, grinds and packages ingredients into reusable jars, yielding several metric tons of RUTF per week. One to two people can produce 15kg of RUTF per half hour with a 40L planetary bakery mixer (MacAdams SM 401), a battery operated laboratory scale, and an assortment of locally available plastic implements. Mothers return used plastic bottles for cleaning and repackaging. This environmentally concious practice reduces costs, allowing our resources to extend to the treatment of additional children. The RUTF, known locally as Chiponde, is carried by medical teams in Land Rovers to rural villages and other sites
RUTF can be stored in large plastic drums, and hand-packed into 275g plastic bottles with screw tops for distribution. Productioncosts are minimized by the donations of ingredients and by hiring qualified local employees.. Since the procedure for making RUTF is relatively simple, the cost of production is |
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around Malawi. Local health service assistants encourage mothers to bring their ill children to the sites, where they are weighed, measured for height and arm circumference, and given a two week ration of RUTF if found to be moderately or severely malnourished. Teams return in two weeks’ time to check the children again. Generally, 95% of malnourished children recover on this formula within a six to eight week period. Studies have shown that children maintain this recovery at a rate of 98% during the ensuing six months post-treatment, and 96% maintain recovery over the course of a year. RUTF is thus a powerful ally in the fight against childhood malnutrition.
RUTF comprises ground, roasted peanuts, powdered milk, vitamin and mineral mix, vegetable oil and sugar. Ingredients are obtained locally with the exception of vitamins and milk, which must be imported. Currently, the World Food Programme and UNICEF partner with us by providing some of these ingredients. Project Peanut Butter is grateful to these agencies for their assistance, and recognizes the difference they have made in our ability to reach thousands more children each year. 
associated mainlyly with the cost of ingredients. The model Dr. Manary developed for the production and distribution is efficient, cost effective and provides a great benefit to the local economy. Moreover, it provides a significant benefit to the tens and soon hundreds of thousands of children who need nutritious, life-saving RUTF in order to live through their nutritional deficits, and reach their full potential for height, weight and brain development.