instructions on the label and packaging so that the
intended recipients actually consume and benefit
from MNP products.16 Since recipients frequently
have low literacy levels, the instructions are usually
given in pictographs or pictures.
A 2011 report from the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) on U.S. food aid
includes a table on the cost of different products per
daily ration or dose. These costs vary greatly, from
a low of about 2-5 cents per day for grain-based
rations and 3-4 cents per day for MNP, to a range
of 6-24 cents for CSB-based rations, to about 12-41
A malnourished infant in Guatemala is given a ready-to-use therapeutic food product.
cents for LNS.17
A vigorous policy discussion is now underway
LNS products can be made from legumes (peas, lentils), as to the most efficient ways to program food aid products,
peanuts, chickpeas, sesame seeds, maize, and/or soybeans. particularly the best strategies for ensuring that specialized
They can be provided by donors through normal food products reach the vulnerable people for whom they
aid procurements, but they can also be manufactured are targeted. Of course, this debate must be informed by
with simple technology available in developing countries. assessments of the effectiveness of new food aid products in
Manufacturing LNS products at scale will reduce production actual field conditions. It should be a top priority to gather
and distribution costs. Local production in some regions a substantive body of evidence on individual and group
has raised some quality and food safety concerns, so taking nutrition outcomes of different products. Donors’ decisions
production to scale will require additional field testing.
about programming food aid are based on many factors, not
Children c