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RUTF a life-line - 10th August 2022

A life-saving paste, packed with essential nutrients, the saving grace of millions of starving children globally, has become the answer for drought-stricken areas of Kenya.

Here's James Jarso from World Vision in Kenya.

James Jarso: "As I say it is about life-saving. If children are not screened, children die as a result of malnutrition. The effect of drought, three years down the line, no rain."

Known as RUTF or ready-to-use-therapeutic food, the paste has seen its cost surge upwards of 23 percent since May 2021. Distributor of almost 80 percent of the world's RUTF supplies UNICEF has attributed this increase to the global pandemic and conflict in Ukraine.

A major supplier of sunflower oil, wheat and grains, Ukraine's conflict has pushed up the cost of and affected the supply chain of products needed to produce peanut paste, such as powdered milk, vegetable oils and sugar. It's also sent fuel prices skyrocketing, further driving up the transportation costs of these ingredients.

Developed 25 years ago, RUTF has revolutionised the treatment of wasting in children facing severe malnutrition. Packed with 500 calories, essential minerals and vitamins in a single packet, and with no need for refrigeration or preparation, peanut paste has proven to be a lifeline for thousands of children across Kenya's northern regions, which have limited water supplies.

Suffering from its worst drought in years, the Horn of Africa sees 1.7 million of its children starving and struggling to survive.

With a diminished supply of RUTF, James Jarso is deeply distressed by the possibility of more child deaths.

James Jarso: "If we run out of this, more deaths would be recorded very soon actually, very soon. We lost a child, I saw. We actually referred four of them to Marsabit County referral hospital. One died - we lost him. Three of them survived. So, this one is life-saving. Without this, more children will die."