Delivering fortified milk to Yemeni school children​

A new partnership to deliver fortified milk to 10,000 children is demonstrating how challenges such as inadequate refrigeration and poor infrastructure can be overcome in the country.

Childhood malnutrition and barriers to food distribution

A report by UNICEF states that 45 per cent of children in Yemen experience irreversible stunted growth. Child wasting rates in the country are among the highest in the world, with estimates for some areas surpassing 25 per cent.

Yemen’s Ministry of Education runs an emergency school feeding programme covering 1.8 million children together with the World Food Programme. However, the programme faces many challenges, including a lack of refrigeration and potable water, poor infrastructure and logistical challenges.

UHT technology can be part of the solution

To address the issues of food safety and access to safe nutrition in schools, a collaborative effort between HSA Group (an international conglomerate of Yemeni origin), its subsidiary NADFOOD, Tetra Pak Arabia Area and Tetra Pak Food for Development has been established to serve fortified milk to 10,000 children in Yemeni schools. The UHT milk is processed locally in Tetra Brik^® Aseptic 125 ml packages and is fortified with micronutrients and vitamins.

UHT technology enables school milk to be stored for 6 months without refrigeration while retaining its nutrients. The technology is critical to the viability of many school milk programmes around the world – including locations with no reliable cold chain and schools without refrigerators. This ensures that even children in the most remote locations can have access to safe, nutritious milk.

“Food security is a real challenge for children in Yemen, and thanks to our UHT technology we can support in providing 10,000 children with the nutrition they need to grow, while encouraging them to attend school,” said Niels Hougaard, Managing Director Tetra Pak Arabia Area.

International collaboration and potential scale up

“To support NADFOOD and Tetra Pak Arabia, we are sharing our experience and best practices used in School Feeding Programmes worldwide,” explained Rafael Fabrega, Tetra Pak Food for Development Vice President. “By collaborating in this way, we can help Yemen’s school milk programme be as efficient and effective as possible, while strengthening the bonds between our organisations for future advancements in the fight against childhood malnutrition.”

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will assess the educational and health benefits of the initiative for the 10,000 participating children. The plan is to ramp up the school feeding programme in Yemen to include more children and to investigate the potential for more nutritious, dairy and cereal-based beverage formulations.