Locally grown crops could expand access to childhood malnutrition treatment

For millions of children suffering from severe malnutrition, an effective treatment already exists. The problem is that many of them never receive it.

A new study led by Dr. Aurélie Bechoff, a visiting researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Hebrew University professors Efrat Monsonego-Ornan and Ram Reifen, together with an international research team, suggests that part of the solution may lie in producing therapeutic food closer to where it is needed, using crops that are already grown locally. The study, published in Current Developments in Nutrition, examined a high-protein therapeutic food made from chickpeas, sorghum, corn and soybeans, ingredients widely available in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ready-to-use therapeutic foods, known as RUTFs, are a standard treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition. Yet according to the study, current treatment reaches only around 30% of children who need it. One of the major challenges is that conventional formulations often depend on ingredients produced in wealthier countries, including relatively expensive powdered milk, creating both cost and supply barriers in lower-income countries.

Those barriers are becoming increasingly urgent as conflict, climate change and cuts to global humanitarian funding place additional pressure on food and nutrition programs. The researchers argue that developing effective therapeutic foods from locally available ingredients could help make treatment less dependent on international supply chains and more affordable to produce in the regions where it is most needed.

The formulation tested in the study, known as ChSMS, replaces milk and peanuts with a combination of chickpeas, sorghum, corn and soybeans. In the preclinical study, it supported substantially better recovery from malnutrition than the commercial peanut-and-milk formulation tested, including catch-up growth.

The researchers found that the plant-based formulation contained more protein and had a higher protein quality score than the commercial product. ChSMS provided around 14% of its energy from protein, compared with 10% in the commercial formulation, while its protein quality score reached 87%, compared with 69%.

But for the researchers, the significance of the formulation goes beyond its nutritional composition.

“Access is one of the biggest challenges in treating childhood malnutrition,” said Monsonego-Ornan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “If therapeutic foods can be produced from high-quality ingredients that are already grown locally, we may be able to reduce dependence on costly imports and make treatment available to many more children. The nutritional quality has to remain the priority, but affordability and local production are essential if we want effective solutions to reach the populations that need them most.”

International guidelines have also begun to make such approaches more feasible. Earlier requirements called for at least half of the protein in therapeutic foods to come from dairy products, but newer guidelines have removed that requirement, opening the door to locally sourced, nondairy formulations that meet nutritional standards.

That shift could have broader economic consequences as well. Because the new formulation is dairy-free, the researchers say it could eliminate the need for expensive imported powdered milk in its production. Using crops such as soybeans, chickpeas, sorghum and corn could instead support local food manufacturers, agricultural supply chains and smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The approach could therefore address several challenges at once: lowering dependence on imported ingredients, reducing production costs, strengthening local economies and potentially making lifesaving nutritional treatment available to more children.

The researchers also see potential for locally produced therapeutic foods to play a broader role in addressing different forms of malnutrition. The study found signs of recovery in linear growth as well as weight, raising the possibility that future formulations could address both acute malnutrition and longer-term stunting. A product capable of targeting both conditions could provide a more efficient and cost-effective approach to a major global health challenge.

The findings are preclinical and will need to be confirmed in clinical studies before conclusions can be drawn about the formulation’s effectiveness in children. However, the researchers say the results provide an important foundation for developing therapeutic foods that combine strong nutritional quality with affordability, local availability and long-term sustainability.

The study involved researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Greenwich, the University of Kent, Benue State University, the University of Nottingham and partner organizations in Kenya and Ireland.

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Robert Egan

Bachelor’s in mathematical biology, Master’s in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language.

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