RWANDA – The Rwandan fortified food factory, Africa Improved Foods (AIF), has been nominated as a finalist to the 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards (WCIA), in the food category, reports KT Press.
WCIA, now in its second year, celebrates businesses, policies, and non-profits that are poised to help shift society to a more sustainable and more equitable future.
The awards, presented on 9 April in New York were picked from a list of 240 finalists chosen from 1,400 total entries globally based on prominent social entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, thinkers, and designers.
Winners of the 2018 WCIA also included new innovations like DigiFarm – a Kenyan Vodafone mobile platform which gives farmers advice, lets them buy seeds and fertilizer, and can even give them loans – all from a simple phone feature.
Award organizers said the impressive list of 12 companies, initiatives, concepts, and projects are poised to help shift society to a more sustainable and more equitable future.
“All the entries deeply impressed us with their creativity, boldness, and potential for real impact – especially poignant in a year where any progress has seemed, at times, impossible,” WCIA said in a statement.
The WCIA annual awards, hosted by the publication Fast Company, included submissions in 12 categories namely, general excellence, advertising, apps, consumer products, developing-world technology, energy, food, health, students among many others.
Africa Improved Foods won awards in two categories: food and developing-world categories through its nutritious fortified foods in Africa, with the objective of ending malnutrition.
“We DSM thrilled that two of our ventures -AIF Rwanda & DSM Niaga were named finalists” said Hugh Welsh, the President and General Counsel of DSM North America.
AIF Rwanda Ltd is a venture formed through a partnership between DSM and other leading organisations to improve access to nutritious, affordable food in Africa.
It manufactures high quality and nutritious complementary foods that address nutritional needs among vulnerable segments of the population, such as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, older infants from six months and young children.
AIF is Africa’s supplier of fortified foods with a US$60 million investment in Rwanda with success on two commercial products, Nootri Mama and Nootri Toto.
The company provides ready market for more than 9,000 large and small-scale grain and cereal farmers across Rwanda.
The company recently extended its product line with Nootri Family, a porridge brand said to be produced with premium quality non-GMO soya, maize and sorghum.
