Mumbai: Bayer announces the expansion of one of its sustainability programs, the Nutrient Gap Initiative, to now improve access to both nutritious food and safety net supplementation. The program initially aimed to expand access to essential vitamins and minerals to 50 million people in underserved communities by 2030, with a focus on nutritional supplementation, a critical tool to build a safety net for malnutrition in these communities. On the occasion of the initiative’s second anniversary, the company is evolving the program to also help close the nutrient gap through the most fundamental source: food, namely fruits, vegetables and grains.
Building on the existing infrastructure of the Better Life Farming centers, smallholder farmers will become a key audience for The Nutrient Gap Initiative. The Better Life Farming Centers, predominantly in Asia Pacific, provide smallholders in remote rural regions access to essential agricultural products, a key pillar of Bayer’s Smallholder Initiative which aims to impact 100 million smallholders in low-and-middle-income countries by 2030. Bayer will pilot the expansion of services offered with access to nutritional solutions and education given that food security cannot be achieved without health equity.
Through direct action and in partnership with critical non-governmental organisations and the public sector, the Nutrient Gap Initiative will help close the nutrient gap by addressing the three main barriers to accessing essential vitamins and minerals:
Intervention: Many underserved communities lack access to vitamins and minerals because they cannot afford them or can’t find them nearby. We are bringing nutritious food (produce and grains) and supplementation (i.e. essential vitamins and minerals from the World Health Organization essential medicines list within physical and financial reach of those who need it most.
Education: Many vulnerable populations lack knowledge about proper nutrition, the importance of vitamins and minerals, how to integrate into diets and the value of supplementation when needed. Through both direct education and work with healthcare providers and farmers, we will empower people with the information they need to take their health into their own hands.
Advocacy: Governments and policy makers can have large-scale impact when they prioritize access to affordable and nutritious food, health literacy and make essential supplementation a standard of care. We will join forces with partners to enable an ecosystem to advocate for access to good nutrition.
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