1. If you could make an intervention at the side event on rural women at the 8th session of the Open Working Group in New York, what would be its key message?
As the Copenhagen Consensus (2012) has concluded, the consumption of protein and micro-nutrients is the most cost-effective way to address health and physical development among the working poor in developing countries. This objective can be achieved in a sustainable manner, with new jobs being created for rural women. Malnutrition Matters has implemented numerous projects in rural Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where micro-nutrient-fortified soymilk is made and profitably sold to consumers making ca. $2/day. The stainless steel VitaGoat system, designed by Malnutrition Matters, which pressure-cooks 30L of soymilk per hour at 110C in a fuel-efficient way, with no need for electricity, running water or packaging, can operate in the most basic environment. It can provide a 200ml serving of soymilk with 7g of protein and the RDA for Vitamin A, Iron, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Folic Acid and Zinc for less than 7 cents per serving. The VitaGoat can reach 1,000 beneficiaries per day and create 4 to 5 full-time rural jobs per system. There are 250 VitaGoats installed today, with over 100,000 continuous beneficiaries, and some have been operating for 10 years. Local produce is used and there is no 'profit eakage' outside the community. A quadruple benefit is realized: significant improvement in nutrition affordable to rural poor, sustainable job creation for rural women, increased demand and revenue for local produce (soybeans) and much lower impact on the environment than with animal protein. See malnutrition.org for more information. Spreadsheets are avialable to demonstrate the sustainable business model realized at various operational sites.
2. Rural women are often described as critical agents of change in discussions on sustainable development goals. To what extent would the achievement of food and nutrition security for rural women help accelerate sustainable development?
I believe that achieving food and nutrition security for rural women in a sustainable manner, is itself a vital part of sustainable development. Because it would result in much less malnutrition and stunting, the populace would experience much greater 'value in life-years' (VLYs) due to good health and prper physical and neurological development, which would enable the GDP of that region / country to increase substantially. Please see the attached comment on the recent Lancet Commission : 'Global Health 2035' for further thoughts on the role of nutrition in achieving greater health and contributing to sustainable development.
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Г-н Hart Jansson