Kerry has a proud record of community engagement and support. Since its foundation, we have contributed significant time and resources to initiatives and charitable causes in the regions where we operate and the philosophy of positive engagement with local communities continues to be a core value of the organisation.
As the world’s leading Taste and Nutrition company, we understand the primary importance of nutrition across all life stages and need states. Our market and consumer research give us an insight into the different requirements across cultures and geographies and we recognise the challenges presented by hunger and poor nutrition.
RAIN (Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition)
Since 2011, Kerry Group has supported Concern Worldwide in its award-winning work through the RAIN Programme, a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling hunger and malnutrition in Niger with a core objective of increasing food production and encouraging a more diverse, nutrient rich diet.
The programme also works to promote key health practices for improved maternal and child nutrition, improve access to reliable and safe water sources and reduce inequalities experienced by the extreme poor and vulnerable, particularly women and girls.
By addressing these broader factors contributing to hunger and malnutrition, the objective of the RAIN Programme is to make a positive, long-term impact on some of the poorest communities in Niger.
Project Leche
Project Leche is a pioneering three-year partnership between Kerry and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the leading humanitarian organisation fighting hunger worldwide, that leverages our dairy heritage and nutritional capabilities to ensure that more sustainable dairy products are included in WFP’s school meals programme for children, in the Dry Corridor region of Honduras.
Kerry has provided extensive nutritional, agricultural, quality and processing expertise together with a direct financial contribution. The programme has made a real difference to the children and the Project Leche farmers and their community.
Key achievements to date include:
- 7,600 children in 178 schools benefitted from nutritionally enhanced meals
- Over 200 teachers from 170 schools can now educate their students on nutrition
- Milk production levels doubled on project farms over the 3-year programme
- Higher inclusion rates of protein and calcium in meals helped to drive an overall improvement in physical growth and a reduction in stunting of 18.5%, over the life of the project.*
- The programme also contributed to a reduction in wasting among schoolchildren from 8.1% to 1.5%, with zero presenting severe wasting by end of project.*
* Source: UN WFP Project Leche Final Report 2020 | Photography: ©WFP / Boone Rodriguez