Team PATA

What is Plumpy'nut?

During the PATA Forum in Kigali, everyone wanted to know about Plumpy'nut — some of us even wanted to taste it! But those who were not there and have never heard about it, might very well ask: what is it? Plumpy'nut is a type of Ready—to—Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) that is used in the treatment of malnutrition. Developed by the French scientist, Andre Briend, in 1999, it is a paste made from peanuts and also contains vegetable oil, milk powder, vitamins and minerals. It is packaged in a foil wrapper and tastes sweeter than peanut butter.

Plumpy'nut has revolutionized the treatment of malnutrition, particularly in the setting of large scale famine relief, as it causes rapid and life—saving weight gain in young children. Not only is it more nutritious than the standard food assistance products, but the children can feed themselves the soft paste, and children do not need hospital admission for administration. In this way, community—based management of malnutrition frees up valuable hospital beds.

Plumpy'nut also has no preparation costs, such as cooking, or need for refrigeration, and clean water is not required. This not only makes it more appropriate and effective in resource limited settings, but makes its distribution costs cheaper than conventional food aid.

Plumpy'nut has been recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an important tool in famine relief. It has been successfully used by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Niger since 2005, where recovery rates were 95% for moderately malnourished and 81% for severely malnourished children.

Project Peanut Butter, in Malawi, operates the first local factory for Plumpy'nut, and is successfully treating hundreds of children throughout the country. As the Project uses locally grown peanuts, the manufacturing cost for a course of lifesaving Plumpy'nut is only $15.