Local versus offshore production of ready‐to‐use therapeutic foods and small quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15537009 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joel Segrè (Film Independent, corresponding author), Grace Liu (0000-0002-1758-4415, Oldham Council), Jan Komrska (United Nations Children's Fund) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2016-11-08 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Maternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/mcn.12376 |
| PMID | 27863004 |
| OpenAlex | W2552017227 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 6 |
Manufacturers on four continents currently produce ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). Some produce locally, near their intended users, while others produce offshore and ship their product long distances. Small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) such as Nutriset's Enov'Nutributter are not yet in widespread production. There has been speculation whether RUTF and SQ-LNS should be produced primarily offshore, locally, or both. We analyzed The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Supply Division data, reviewed published literature, and interviewed local manufacturers to identify key benefits and challenges to local versus offshore manufacture of RUTF. Both prices and estimated costs for locally produced product have consistently been higher than offshore prices. Local manufacture faces challenges in taxation on imported ingredients, low factory utilization, high interest rates, long cash conversion cycle, and less convenient access to quality testing labs. Benefits to local economies are not likely to be significant. Although offshore manufacturers offer RUTF at lower cost, local production is getting closer to cost parity for RUTF. UNICEF, which buys the majority of RUTF globally, continues to support local production, and efforts are underway to narrow the cost gap further. Expansion of RUTF producers into the production of other ready-to-use foods, including SQ-LNS in order to reach a larger market and achieve a more sustainable scale, may further close the cost and price gap. Local production of both RUTF and SQ-LNS could be encouraged by a favorable tax environment, assistance in lending, consistent forecasts from buyers, investment in reliable input supply chains, and local laboratory testing
Nutrient · Production (economics · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine · Food Science
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Innovative optimization of ready to use food for treatment of acute malnutrition
Local versus offshore production of ready‐to‐use therapeutic foods and small quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements
Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries
Willingness to pay for lipid‐based nutrient supplements for young children in four urban sites of E thiopia
Local versus offshore production of ready‐to‐use therapeutic foods and small quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |