EASTERN AFRICA – The American global food processing and commodities trading corporation, Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) has partnered with Concern Worldwide to create and implement the Lifesaving Education and Assistance to Farmers (LEAF) Project with a donation of US$1 million in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The partnership of ADM with Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization dedicated to reducing suffering and ultimate elimination of extreme poverty, will provide immediate and longer-term responses to chronic malnutrition and hunger for the vulnerable communities in the two neighbouring Eastern African countries

ADM will work closely with Concern Worldwide to design and implement the 18-month program, drawing on ADM’s long-standing agricultural, nutritional and technical expertise and industry-leading talent to propose possible solutions to pressing nutritional challenges faced by those living with chronic hunger.

The LEAF project will build on Concern and ADM’s shared goal of advancing nutrition innovation globally, by providing lifesaving nutritional treatment for acutely malnourished children and pregnant or lactating women, as well as agricultural transformation to reduce chronic malnutrition in both countries.

Over the life of the project, the program will feature intervention at three levels—food systems, behaviour change, and public health to directly benefit approximately 50,000 individuals.

“At ADM, we fundamentally believe that providing access to nutrition has the power to solve many of the world’s challenges,” said Juan Luciano, ADM Chairman and CEO.

“In partnership with Concern Worldwide, we are unlocking the power of nature to save lives today, and to enrich them tomorrow.

We’re hopeful that by leveraging our collective knowledge, expertise and perspectives, we can help make a difference in the dire nutrition situation for thousands of residents in Ethiopia and Kenya, while being good stewards of the environment,” he added.

In support to the initiative the CEO Concern Worldwide U.S Colleen Kelly stated, “We are proud to announce our partnership with ADM.

“International institutions and humanitarian and development organizations are unanimous that achieving zero hunger will not be possible without private sector partnerships, such as LEAF.”

ADM Cares helps sustain and strengthen communities where ADM colleagues work, live and operate by directing funding, volunteerism, and industry knowledge to initiatives and organizations that drive meaningful social, economic and environmental progress worldwide.

They focus their efforts primarily in three areas: Advancing Sustainable Agriculture; Increasing Food Security; and Investing in Education.