Innovative app tackling infant malnutrition sees ofi sustainability award success
Ingredients group ofi is in celebratory form after claiming a coveted ‘Social Sustainability Project of the Year’ accolade at the Edie awards, for its innovative new smartphone app tackling infant malnutrition, reports Neill Barston.
The company remains particularly active across a number of agricultural markets, including the key cocoa value chain supporting the confectionery sector – but its latest initiative engaged with cashew nut farming communities.
As the business, which is part of the broader Olam group noted, the Edie award recognises socially responsible business ventures driving positive change at a time when social sustainability and the “just transition” is of paramount importance. ofi has made nutrition and health a central part of its efforts to create thriving communities under its Choices for Change strategy and is committed to reaching 750,000 households in the communities where it operates to improve their nutrition and health by 2030.
Its Infant Malnutrition System Alert (IMSA) app was developed by ofi sustainability analyst Dr Stéphanie Konan PhD, to address high-rates of infant malnutrition in the Ivory Coast, where one in five children experience stunted growth and development. It is the first digital health screening service in the country, powered by a geographic information system. By sending alerts to nearby or configured healthcare facilities of registered cases in real-time, IMSA digitized the malnutrition monitoring, enabling quicker treatment, facilitating follow-up, and providing the National Nutrition Program with insightful high level reports.
As the company explained, since 2019, during the Journée d’Intensification des Activités de Nutrition (JIAN) in Côte d’Ivoire, ofi has been supporting the digitalization of malnutrition screening by using IMSA. This annual campaign is part of its existing nutrition and health programs in Côte d’Ivoire, where it sources cashew, cocoa, and coffee from over 185,000 farming families and via a vast network of local traders.
In 2024, working in partnership with Côte d’Ivoire’s National Nutrition Program, ofi teams and volunteers screened over 22,000 children in cashew communities in the Béoumi district. 370 moderate and acute cases of malnutrition were identified and referred to healthcare facilities. The app also allows ofi to track every case referred for treatment, allowing for 6-month follow-ups.
Scheme success
ofi’s field workers, together with its partners, and local community health workers, also delivered crucial interventions including deworming and Vitamin A tablets, and information on good nutrition – as studies show that infant malnutrition can be largely attributed to a lack of education and low literacy rates.
As well as the Edie award, IMSA and its contribution to national efforts to combat malnutrition was awarded the Prize for Research and Innovation by Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in 2023.
The developer of the app, ofi’s sustainability analyst Dr Stéphanie Konan PhD, said: “IMSA was born from a simple idea: that replacing the existing paper-based screening with a digital solution could enable earlier detection and treatment. From that simple idea, collaboration and partnership has built a successful program. ofi’s local teams, embedded in farming communities, have trained community health service agents and established partnerships with local health authorities to reach tens of thousands of farming families.
“What’s really exciting is the great potential IMSA offers for scaling up malnutrition screening and interventions across other regions and countries facing similar public health issues. These kinds of innovative ideas delivered at scale are central to delivering ofi’s long-term ambition to help farming communities thrive.”
