Tackling Childhood Malnutrition
Child hunger and malnutrition are grave problems, but the solution is within reach, according to Navyn Salem, founder and CEO of .
鈥淗ow on earth can children be dying from a lack of food and nutrition in this day and age?鈥� Salem asked. 鈥淭here are over 8,000 children that will die today when we have a completely rational solution in our back pockets that we know how to implement.鈥�
Salem 鈥�94, a Boston College Board of Trustees member, founded听Edesia, a nonprofit social enterprise seeking to treat and prevent malnutrition in developing countries while balancing a sustainable profit. The company produces听, a peanut-based paste with a formula of nutrients designed to improve severely malnourished children's health and cognitive functioning.
鈥淣ot only are we trying to save lives, but we鈥檙e trying to build brains,鈥� Salem said. 鈥淪o the micronutrients鈥攖he vitamins and the minerals that are in these products鈥攈elp build brains. That is something you cannot take away from a child鈥攅ver.鈥�
Salem said 笔濒耻尘辫测鈥橬耻迟 can be easily distributed, allowing it to serve millions of people in need. 鈥淸笔濒耻尘辫测鈥橬耻迟] can be taken at home and doesn鈥檛 need to be mixed with water or be refrigerated, which means we can go to really hard-to-reach places far out in rural areas, and our reach becomes enormous,鈥� Salem said. 鈥淲e want to make sure that we can reach as many kids as possible.鈥�
According to Salem, Edesia has served over 20 million children since its founding and is on pace to reach half of the world鈥檚 malnourished children by the end of this year. She said the idea for Edesia came after she visited a clinic in rural Tanzania and felt propelled to solve the malnutrition issues she saw there. 鈥淚 heard the sound of a mother who lost her child, and I will never forget that sound of her cries,鈥� Salem said. 鈥淎nd I thought to myself, 鈥楬ere I am鈥攃ompletely inexperienced鈥攂ut I鈥檓 gonna go home and figure out what needs to be done.鈥欌��
Salem said social enterprises like Edesia allow entrepreneurs to grow successful businesses while fostering social change worldwide.鈥淵ou can actually make profits even when you are a social enterprise,鈥� Salem said. 鈥淚n fact, a [social enterprise] probably has a greater likelihood of being successful because it鈥檚 authentic in what you believe, what your values are, and how you tie them together.鈥�
Edesia hopes to sell products that proactively prevent malnourishment in the future. 鈥淢ortality rates will drop significantly if we start to work on prevention and not wait until children are weeks away from death,鈥� Salem said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 better for children economically, ethically, and morally. There鈥檚 no money for this at the moment, but we will change that.鈥�
Salem said Edesia recently received a $137 million grant from the Bezos Family Foundation to expand manufacturing capacity and develop new products to prevent malnutrition. 鈥淥ne day, I happened to be in a room giving a presentation and somebody took notice鈥攁nd their last name happened to be Bezos,鈥� Salem said.
Concluding her lecture, Salem encouraged students to look for innovative ways to improve the world around them: 鈥淕o out into the world, even if it鈥檚 just down the street, and keep your eyes open.鈥�
鈥淟ook for problems and view them as opportunities.鈥�
Adapted from听听by听Jack Beckman '27听
Presented with the Portico Program and 糖心vlog直播平台 Career Center
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