A New Factory for MFK
In 2010, MFK will provide treatment to nearly 8,000 Haitian children, and over the next five years our goal is to save the lives of many more. To meet this goal, we urgently need to build a new factory. Our current factory is located in a small house that we have adapted to our needs, with production on the second floor.
The time has come to build a facility designed for safe food processing and large-scale production.
The number of malnourished children in Haiti is growing. Our major customers would prefer to buy their RUTF from Haitian sources — and their demand is growing by 15% a year. Finally, Haiti’s government strongly supports national production, a keystone of their strategic development plan. But in order for Meds & Food for Kids to supply these markets, we not only need more volume, but also more sophisticated machinery and packaging in order for our products to be able to compete with imports.
Our new factory will:
- Set a national standard for food safety and good practice.
- Serve as a model for developing countries.
- Prove that development solutions do not need to be imported.
- Make Medika Mamba production financially sustainable through economies of scale and efficiency gains.
- Provide a market for peanuts from more than 1,000 farmers.
- Be adaptable. In addition to providing treatments for acute malnutrition, we will develop and market supplementary foods for preventing malnutrition, and to treat other vulnerable populations.
And most importantly, through increased production and economies of scale, MFK's production will be financially self-sustainable by 2015, removing the need for funding support.
In 2009, MFK launched a capital campaign to construct this new manufacturing facility in Haiti. After the earthquake of 2010, the need is more urgent. We remain committed to national production because it is the smart thing to do – for Haiti’s children and for Haiti. Please consider joining us in this critical effort through pledges, donations, annuities or other gifts. Download our brochure for more information.
As of September 2010, MFK has raised over $1,000,000 towards our goal of $3,000,000.
