INANI Start Well Foundation NPC

Our vision and mission is to make a physical and measurable contribution towards reducing stunting prevalence amongst poor growing children in South Africa.

The funding will be used to educate stakeholders about the importance of macronutrients for small growing children. Too few people involved in child care do understand what are good quality proteins, fats and carbohydrates. 

Currently lots of messages are build around the importance of micronutrients (Vitamins & Minerals). 

The drivers of stunting are seen as complex to solve and address. I believe that by strengthening the existing nutritional safety nets, which are in place in the form of early childhood development (ECD) feeding schemes, we can ensure children do receive growth nutrients.

It is also important to advocate and educate that through the micronutrient fortification (vitamins and minerals) of nutrient-poor meals only, stunting cannot and will not be addressed. Growing children also need good quality and quantity macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates).

We require funding for advocacy campaigns to teach and educate the importance of macronutrients in meals served to small growing children (including pregnant mothers).

Advocacy campaigns need to be aimed at donors, CSI offices, government institutions and feeding scheme operators.

In the second half of my life (54 years) I searched for a 'meaningful & scalable' business to buy. 

I found a small food processing company focused on ready-to-eat meals supplied to feeding schemes for sale. Immediately the profit vs doing good conflict stood out to me.

The Cape Town University analysed their corn/soy/sugar blend breakfast cereal meal as part of my due diligence. It was labeled as "energy rich and nutrient-poor".

I decided NOT to buy the profitable business and rather use my capital to develop a meal which ticks the nutrient boxes. It took three years of development, refining and piloting the recipe with creches in poor communities to get where we could commercialise the concept.

Very soon I realised that the only way we can take it to to market is via a social enterprise business structure. I founded the INANI Start Well Foundation in 2018 with the mission to produce nutrient-dense meals for small growing children.

We have raised the required capital for the social enterprise and we will start producing in May 2021. The plant has the capacity to feed 200 000 children a daily meal. When successful, we will scale to reach many more.

We have a food processing factory which produces ready-to-eat meals designed to deliver nutrients to growing children exposed to chronic malnutrition. 

We exist to reduce child stunting rates.

Although the drivers of child stunting is seen as complex, it is biology 101 that the children do not regular enough receive 'growth nutrients' during their early growth stages.

In South Africa the under 5-year old stunting rates are 27% (Unicef data) and quantifies to 1.7 million children.

In Africa they estimate 55 million children under 5-years old to be stunted and globally the number is more than 154 million.

Our vision is to establish non-profit food processing plants to create super quality recipes and brands. Pricing towards feeding scheme institution is structured at a 'cost recovery basis' to ensure sustainability of the business.

Pricing to the general market is structured to profit and subsidise the social side of the ecosystem.

Donor funding can be used for advocacy and education about the importance of macronutrients. 

Currently, in the value chain serving ready-to-eat meals to poor growing children in creches and schools there are:

- Farms which are commercial and use scale,

- Large food processors which are commercial and use scale,

- Feeding scheme operators which are non-profit

- School kitchens which are government and people paid through stipends to do the work.

We believe that the shackle in the value chain creating the recipes and producing the recipes needs drastic improvement.

When processing is done through a social enterprise structure the following happens:

- The Board's strategic intent is nutrients reaching its stated beneficiaries (poor growing children)

- The focus shifts away from creating wealth/profit to shareholders

- Profits generated are always re-allocated to the business. No dividend pay-outs.

- When scale advantages realise, they work towards benefitting the beneficiaries. This is incredibly important and powerful.

You cannot manage if you do not measure.

We cannot address stunting occurrence in children if we do not know which children are not reaching their growth markers.

As part of The Village Project we:

Designed, build and provide hardware (measuring equipment) and software to monthly capture the growth measurements of each growing child at participating creches and schools.

The secure data can be analysed in reports showing regions, schools, classes and individual children.