People initiatives
UN World Food Programme (WFP)
The DSM-WFP partnership ‘Improving Nutrition, Improving Lives’, in place since 2007, aims to improve the nutritional value of the food that WFP distributes and reach 35 million people annually with nutritionally improved products through this partnership. During more than 15 years of partnership, both organizations have helped fight nutritional deficiencies which stunt growth, hinder development, and threaten the lives of one in two people globally, greatly limiting their potential.
In 2022, the partnership was extended for another three years, building on its successes to date. We offer WFP our technical and scientific expertise in nutrition, quality assurance and marketing, as well as financial assistance, to improve the availability and affordability of fortified, nutritious foods for people in need.
In Bangladesh, for example, the partnership has supported more than 70 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in building their capacity to produce fortified rice that looks, cooks, and tastes like ordinary rice, but crucially includes essential vitamins and minerals that help curb micronutrient deficiencies. This initiative has directly benefited local food producers and processors and has resulted in more than 8 million people in the country now having access to fortified rice through social safety nets. In addition, DSM and WFP are working together to drive the transformation of food systems, supporting local food companies and value chains in developing countries to deliver more affordable, fortified, nutritious food options to communities in need.
Through the rice fortification and retail projects of WFP Country Offices (COs) under the partnership, WFP and national stakeholders leveraged existing platforms to reach an estimated 10.5 million indirect beneficiaries with fortified rice and Social Behavior Change and Communication (SBCC) campaigns. Furthermore, through the partnership, approximately 200 retailers and millers received technical support and 400,000 school-age children benefited from fortified rice as a result of DSM’s donation of fortified rice kernels (FRK) to WFP COs.
UNICEF
Since 2013, UNICEF, DSM, and Sight and Life have partnered to improve nutrition for women and children. Built on multiple pillars, the partnership aims to expand the scientific evidence base and proof of viability of targeted nutritional interventions, to increase awareness of the importance of good nutrition, and to make nutritious food products accessible to those who need them most.
Creating enabling environment and scaling up micronutrient powder uptake
Through this partnership, UNICEF leverages DSM’s core business assets to support the Government of Nigeria in scaling up access to micronutrient powders to improve children’s diets, while mobilizing commitment from the business sector to tackle malnutrition. In Nigeria, our aim is to increase access to vital nutrients during the critical first 1,000 days of life in order to support optimal physical and cognitive development. We also want to focus on the implementation research of micronutrient powder (MNP) programming and use it as a proof concept for future MNP/MMS (multiple micronutrient supplement) interventions in countries in Africa as well as other regions. To date, we have reached three million children aged 6–23 months suffering from malnutrition and have supported the Government of Nigeria in realizing its vision of scaling up the program nationally from five to ten states. The program has also added MMS for pregnant and lactating women and integrated MNP guidelines into the national standards in Nigeria.
The Social Movement on Nutrition program
In India, we have created the platform ImpAct4Nutrition (I4N) to engage private sector for workforce nutrition and create a social movement around nutrition literacy in support of the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan). As of November 2022, I4N has more than 260 pledged corporate partners and through them the platform has been able to reach more than 2.6 million employees by using the ACE (Assets, CSR and Employees engagement) card for Nutrition. I4N is committed to transforming the workforce landscape for socially responsible businesses, implementing roadmaps for employee engagement programs, nutrition literacy for employees and communities, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs with enhanced CSR spends on nutrition.
In 2022, I4N conducted 37 digital nutrition learning sessions with its pledged partners and reached more than 46,000 people. The POSHAN Talks Series, a key medium to chronicle important conversations about the nutrition space as successfully hosted with industry leaders. Sixteen POSHAN talks, 10 POSHAN stories, and a POSHAN podcast were created, documenting private sector initiatives, challenges, and best practices for nutrition.
Scaling up maternal and child health interventions among vulnerable population groups in Mexico
In 2022, the partnership extended to Latin America. Together, the partners enabled an understanding of the Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) landscape in Mexico to ensure there is alignment with other actors and avoid overlap in efforts around demand generation and the regulatory environment for impactful intervention and strengthening of the health-care system. The goal of the project is to help improve maternal and child health and nutrition through scaling up maternal and child health interventions among vulnerable population groups in Mexico. The strategy was implemented in 2022 in three priority states supported by UNICEF: Yucatan, Chiapas and Chihuahua. By 2024, the partners aim to ensure MMS supplementation in at least seven priority states.
World Vision International
Our partnership with World Vision and Sight and Life, with the slogan of ‘Joining Forces for Last-Mile Nutrition’, aims to bring prosperity and good nutrition to the most vulnerable communities in the Global South. Leveraging the unique capabilities and know-how of each partner, we design and implement sustainable market-based solutions that bridge the gap between public and private efforts for improving nutrition and fostering local economic development. For example, in 2022 the partners worked on solutions for maize in Rwanda, eggs in Indonesia and Ethiopia, distribution channels in Brazil, and MMS in the Philippines.
The maize value chain in Rwanda
In Rwanda, the partners enable transformation of the local maize value chain, ensuring a more efficient, inclusive and sustainable supply chain. Partners work with and enable smallholder farmers through training and provision of market access, while working on improving the quality of, and access to, raw materials for Africa Improved Foods (AIF) in Rwanda. After positive results of the initial pilot, the partners are now collaborating for scale-up.
The EGGciting project
The EGGciting project in Indonesia was completed successfully in 2022. It focused on eggs as an important source of nutrition and worked to increase the availability, accessibility, and consumption of eggs at the household level in Sulawesi (Indonesia). Partners addressed bottlenecks in the supply chain and improved the quality of feed, while stimulating demand for improved nutrition among consumers through the use of social marketing that stimulated the consumption of eggs as a nutritious product. As a result, the consumption of eggs at a household level nearly tripled, from 9% to 26%, among the targeted beneficiaries. Elements of the program are being integrated into ongoing World Vision programs, ensuring long-term, sustainable impact.
Building on the success of the EGGciting Indonesia project, the partners brought the EGGciting model to three regions in Ethiopia: Boset, Shasheme and Bui. The program focuses on training smallholder farmers in poultry farm operation and feed management for improved nutrition, safety, quality, sustainability, and livelihoods. Simultaneously, the program aims to increase the accessibility to eggs and the understanding of their nutritional value, especially for women and children.
Social distribution of nutrition in Brazil
In Brazil, market research to support the social distribution of nutritional products was initiated in 2019. This pilot continued throughout 2021 and is projected to transform the distribution of micronutrient-enriched products in Brazil by incubating last-mile-nutrition female entrepreneurs to serve populations living in vulnerable communities through a door-to-door business model, operating in Fortaleza. In 2022, a partnership was formed with a local distributor, Omnilife, which produces and sells nutritional and cosmetic products. A group of 400 women received nutrition and entrepreneurship training.
MMS in the Philippines
In the Philippines, the partners launched a new program focusing on the MMS value chain for pregnant and lactating women in the municipalities of Tacloban, Bulan, Pio Duran and Pasacao. The program builds on the momentum behind MMS after its inclusion in WHO’s essential medicine list. It aims to increase the availability and access to MMS, ensure adequate demand and use, and further encourage policy reform to include MMS. The pilot design is being co-created by partners, including the local government, and implementation is set to begin in 2023.
Africa Improved Foods (AIF)
AIF is an African social enterprise that produces fortified foods made mainly from maize and soybean sourced from smallholder farmers in the region. These products include mineral- and vitamin-rich porridges and help meet the nutritional needs of vulnerable population groups such as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, older infants, and young children. AIF addresses the food challenges facing Africa by building resilient food systems through sourcing, manufacturing, and selling nutritious, affordable, and accessible products. AIF was launched in 2016 in Rwanda as a public-private partnership between the Government of Rwanda and a consortium comprising DSM, the Dutch Development Bank (FMO), DFID Impact Acceleration Facility managed by CDC Group plc (CDC), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group.
A study performed by the University of Chicago in 2018 showed that AIF delivers true value, improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, employees and their families, improving food safety, reducing malnutrition and contributing to broader development. Since the launch of AIF, we have reached 1.6 million consumers, contributing more than USD 900 million in discounted net incremental benefits to the African economy.
AIF’s Kigali factory contributes to the local and regional economy
AIF’s mission is to produce high-quality nutritious foods from local ingredients. Working with smallholder farmers in Rwanda and across the region, AIF improves their productivity and product quality, and are scaling this further with partners. AIF is focused on developing robust value chains that address the challenges of climate change and employment creation in the African food value chain.
AIF’s Kigali factory employs over 470 skilled workers with well-paid jobs. Regional procurement of goods and services (such as transportation) has led to indirect economic development across East Africa. Reaching more than 1.6 million consumers daily, AIF has proven that this model can be profitable while contributing to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
Positive results in 2022 despite the pandemic
AIF’s revenue grew to almost USD 62 million in 2022, as the need for humanitarian nutritious food supply remained high. Africa Improved Foods was awarded the best large enterprise product of the year in the East African Community (EAC) for its Nootri Toto product. This product is specifically designed and fortified with vitamins, minerals, proteins and calcium to complement the diet of infants above six months, providing them with the required nutrients to support their strong growth and development. The year also marked the beginning of AIF’s new ambitious growth strategy, with groundwork in Ethiopia (in partnership with Unilever Ethiopia) and Kenya to accelerate and further scale up AIF’s impact.
MANDI
In 2022, we continued to expand MANDI (Making A Nutritional Difference to India), a socio-commercial consumer products business delivering local nutrition and home fortification solutions that are affordable and convenient. The range of home fortification products involved, branded as NuShakti™, includes solutions for staples such as rice and wheat flour, as well as fruit-flavored fortified beverage powders, vitamin-enriched candies and mineral-enriched protein health food drinks for children – all of which have a base immunity benefit.
Partners in Food Solutions (PFS)
PFS works to increase the growth and competitiveness of food companies in Africa. These aims are achieved by inspiring business leaders and linking highly skilled corporate volunteers from a consortium of leading companies including DSM, Cargill, General Mills, Hershey, Bühler, Ardent Mills, and J.M. Smucker Company with promising entrepreneurs and other influencers in the food ecosystem. The seven corporate partners have empowered hundreds of entrepreneurs to work toward stronger, more resilient food value chains across the African continent.
In 2022, DSM employees contributed more than 1,400 volunteer hours working with 60 African customer organizations across 10 countries. By sharing expertise, the volunteers were able to assist local entrepreneurs in growing their businesses and supporting a supplier base of more than 100,000 farmers. In total, 67 DSM volunteers supported 84 service offerings to clients, of which 25 customer organizations are owned or managed by women.
Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN)
The SUN Business Network (SBN) – co-hosted by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and WFP – is the private-sector branch of the SUN Movement. It aims to support businesses in growing the role they play in nutrition and to support SUN countries in developing national business engagement strategies. The SBN is established in 18 countries and supports the development of new networks in 26 countries. These include almost 1,400 companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The global membership platform currently has 25 members. Our Honorary Chairman Mr. Feike Sijbesma is a member of the Lead Group of the SUN Movement and Co-Chair of the Advisory Group of the Network.
As an SBN global member, we support the implementation of SBN principles, notably around workforce nutrition commitments; overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases; and the delivery of technical assistance to national SBNs and their members. We advocate for business to take a leading role in these important issues and collaborate with SBN for stronger business accountability on nutrition and for the adoption of SMART nutrition pledges by business (UN Food System Summit, Nutrition for Growth Summit).
Sight and Life
The year 2022 marked 35 years of Sight and Life (SAL) as global leader in the nutrition world, using science to change the way nutrition is delivered to people who need it most, specifically women and children. Originally founded by Roche in 1984, Sight and Life was exclusively funded by DSM from 2003 until 2015, when it was established as an independent Swiss foundation. This occasion was marked by the publication of a special edition of Sight and Life Magazine, which received a lot of traction from the global community. In June 2022, SAL launched a new strategy in response to the growing problem of hunger and malnutrition. The strategy builds on SAL’s proven track record and sets out an expanded ambitious scope of work that will see SAL translating science to solutions, validating sustainable local (social) business solutions and supporting their scale-up.
The year also saw SAL roll out the implementation phase of the Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project, a Swiss consortium formed in partnership with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, ETH Zürich, and Syngenta Foundation and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. NICE aims to increase long-term access to and demand for nutritious foods produced via local and agroecological systems in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda.
Two more ambitious programs were launched by SAL this year: Product Innovation for Nutrition (funded by CIFF and ECF) and an Egg hub in Ethiopia in partnership with SNV (funded by CIFF). The PIN program is an innovative approach that helps build local value chains for nutritious products. In collaboration with Harvard Business School, the project also supports 400 entrepreneurs in emerging economies in applying business models to develop and scale nutrition innovations. It builds on SAL’s successful partnership in Bangladesh with SMC and GAIN, which resulted in the sale of 20 million MMS tablets to pregnant women over the course of 1.5 years. The Egg hub also builds on the successful Egg hub model set up by SAL in Malawi, which tripled the income of smallholder farmers, while providing three times more affordable eggs in rural Malawi for malnourished children and women.
SAL continues to produce new publications, podcasts and events focused on key themes including multiple micronutrient supplementation, adolescent nutrition, food system change, alternative proteins and precision nutrition. This year also saw the first ‘Partnering for Impact’ networking event for Swiss stakeholders, organized with the aim of increasing collaboration between diverse actors across the food chain.
Catalyst
We remain an active supporter of Catalyst’s mission to improve workplaces for women. Our Honorary Chairman, Mr. Feike Sijbesma, continued his role on the Board of Directors and Ms. Matchett her role on the European Advisory Board.
In 2022, our sponsorship of Catalyst’s work on Women and The Future of Work (a long-term, research-led program focused on ensuring equity in future employability) continued. Our support in 2022 included participation in regular expert group meetings, during which we provided input to shape Catalyst’s research practices and products, such as the knowledge burst ‘Bringing Humanity to a Digital World’. In addition, we contributed to, and benefited from, regional best-practice sessions, for example, ‘Creating Successful Inclusive Hybrid Workplaces’, the outcomes of which validate and influence the design of DSM’s Hybrid Working practices.
Valuable 500
The Valuable 500 is a global NGO dedicated to unlocking the social and economic value of people living with disabilities across the world. We continued our partnership in 2022, with a focus on raising awareness of disability inclusion and identifying opportunities to improve accessibility in the workplace. DSM’s Valuable ERG lead, Geo ‘t Hart, was nominated to represent DSM at a Valuable 500 Future Leaders program for people with disabilities, ‘’Generation Valuable’’, with mentorship from Ms. Matchett. This program has dual aims: to create a cadre of leaders with disabilities while also raising awareness of disability inclusion at top levels within organizations.
Workplace Pride
Workplace Pride is a non-profit foundation dedicated to improving the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer people in the workplace. Since becoming a member in 2020, DSM has applied Workplace Pride’s global benchmarking tool, which provides a data-led approach for evaluating and identifying opportunities to improve inclusion for our LGBTQ+ colleagues and partners who form the basis of our global goals and programs. In 2022, we publicly shared our commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion with the signing by Ms. Matchett of the Declaration of Amsterdam.
One Young World (OYW)
The One Young World Summit gathers 2,000 young leaders from more than 190 countries and all sectors, empowering them to make lasting connections to generate positive change for sustainable development. In 2022, our 11th OYW delegation comprised 26 colleagues representing all our businesses and regions, along with four scholars active in the areas of our Food System Commitments. This delegation attended the Manchester Summit in September 2022, which had been delayed and relocated due to the pandemic.
Working on business development and internal engagement
The community of more than 120 OYW alumni manages different business development and internal engagement projects for sustainability. Projects implemented by previous delegations include a Personal Carbon Footprint Calculator, a learning and development game called ‘The DSM Sustainable City™’, a project on Sustainable Packaging, and the Tomato Project (a development project for fortified tomato sauce). The 2022 delegation worked on projects relating to increasing the impact of the DSM scholars’ program, a platform to boost knowledge-sharing; an internal exchange program to increase development of employees; STEM outreach to local communities; and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion live chat.
