Arlington, VA — August 5, 2010 — Better Foods for Better Lives, an agricultural and economic growth program in Indonesia and Cambodia, has achieved unprecedented success and was highlighted as an exemplary public-private partnership during the 2010 International Food Aid & Development Conference in Kansas City, MO. The program was implemented by International Relief and Development (IRD) between 2000 and 2007 and was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The goal of Better Foods for Better Lives was to provide low-cost, micronutrient-fortified food for low-income families and school children in economically deprived areas. To help accomplish this goal, IRD worked to strengthen local food production and distribution channels—including private-sector noodle producers, bakeries, and snack and soy milk manufacturers—which in turn created thousands of sustainable jobs and increased income for families living in Southeast Asia.

Soy-enriched snack noodles were the cornerstone of the program. The nutritional value of the noodles was enhanced by adding defatted soy flour, which nearly doubles the protein content. Nutrient-fortified snack noodles, bread, and soy milk were distributed free of charge to school-children to help combat malnutrition and increase school attendance rates, while low-cost, fortified, instant noodles were marketed to low-income consumers through existing private-sector marketing and distribution channels. IRD has also supported production and marketing of soy-enriched rice noodles and soy sauce fortified with iodine, iron, and vitamin A.

Ahmadou Danpoulo Baba, Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Foods Company in Cameroon and an IRD partner, spoke at the Food Aid Conference on Tuesday about his noodle production project. He said that he used the example of the IRD noodle projects in Indonesia and Cambodia to jump start his own effort in Cameroon, with the help of USDA, IRD, U.S. Wheat, and the World Institute for Soy in Hunger and Health (WISHH).

David Prettyman, IRD's Deputy Director of Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems, also presented at the Conference on Tuesday. Prettyman discussed IRD's work in long-term agriculture and food assistance projects. In addition to IRD’s Southeast Asia programs, he spoke about current food and agricultural programs in Africa, including Cameroon, the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique.

For more information on IRD’s food and agricultural programs around the world, visit www.ird.org/what/programs/food.html.