11 July 2022

3 minute read

By: Trouw Nutrition

Africa

Nutreco, part of the SHV group of companies, and a global animal nutrition leader based in the Netherlands, has received a US$4.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant is to accelerate the implementation of localized, sustainable complete feed production in sub-Saharan Africa, driving forward Nutreco’s purpose of Feeding the Future.

Compound feed production across the continent is some of the lowest in the world, and some of the most expensive due to inefficiencies and infrastructure challenges. As a result, small-scale livestock producers face declining incomes and uncertain futures, unless they gain access to quality animal feed.

The US$4.8 million grant will directly fund 21 Hendrix4U complete feed production projects initially in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Uganda. Hendrix4U provides a ‘factory-in-a-box’ for rural areas ensuring access to quality compound feed production for small-scale producers, in a financially sustainable way.

This is one of the first investments from the foundation in the animal feed space - a powerful endorsement of the extensive work done to date by Nutreco. Since 2018, the business has tried and tested the implementation of 16 Hendrix4U projects, demonstrating its critical impact for producers.

The 37 Hendrix4U projects in total, which all include a full-service package for small-scale feed production, will not only improve local feed value chains, but also critically improve the profitability of over 15.000 poultry and dairy producers.

Nutreco CEO Fulco van Lede comments, “More than half of the projected global population growth in the coming decades will take place in Africa, and many will face food insecurity and hunger if no innovative solutions are developed to increase the sustainable production of food in the region. Today’s grant funding serves as validation of the work we are doing in Africa to equip producers with the right tools to future proof their livelihoods – and as a result, ensure high quality food and produce is accessible for communities throughout the continent.”

In addition to the facilities themselves, feed producing distributors gain access to training and education in the following fields:

• Local Raw Material Quality Control Programme: Applications to evaluate raw material qualities and nutritional values to validate the use of local crops for specific animal nutrition.
• Concentrates Portfolio: Mitigating the risk of contamination with mycotoxins and supplementing the local raw materials to ensure a balanced diet.
• Nutritional Advice: Immediate, customised, and on-site nutritional advice via the Hendrix Pocket Advisor (App) transferring raw material data into customer specific mixing directions (least cost formulation).
• Production & Operations: Feed mill commissioning, production & operations workflow support.
• Market Development Support: Hendrix & Trouw Nutrition brands endorsement, complete feed portfolio management & sales (assistance) support. For example, the SMEs will receive technical assistance (ToT) on farm & feed management support.
• Business Management Support: Feed mill management, finance, and business acumen.

Nutreco partners and supports organisations around the planet to ensure it can play its role in Feeding the Future. Across the African continent, Nutreco is active in over 40 countries with teams present in 15 countries, with over 500 people dedicated to both aquaculture and animal nutrition.