FELIX BROOKSCHURCH

Eradicating malnutrition in Africa, one fortified bag of flour at a time

This American social entrepreneur is tackling one of the world’s greatest afflictions, malnutrition, which affects two billion people globally and is linked to half the preventable deaths of 15,000 children every day. Co-founder and CEO of a nonprofit enterprise called Sanku, Brooks-church has developed an ingenious system that provides mothers and infants living in Tanzania access to sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals. At the heart of his project is his patented “dosifier,” a machine that fortifies every bag of flour sold by smallscale local millers with a measured dose of vitamin B12, zinc, folic acid, and iron, which are integral for nutrition and healthy development. “What we are doing is adding life-saving nutrients to the staple foods that millions of people depend on every day,” Brooks-church explains. The process is supported by an innovative business model that enables local flour mills to use the easy-to-install dosifier at no extra cost to themselves or their customers. Sanku buys flour bags cheaply in bulk and then sells them to the millers at market price. The margin is enough to cover the tiny cost of the added nutrients. This model ensures that Brooks-church’s project is extremely economical, costing approximately $1 to fortify food for one person for an entire year. To date, Sanku has already helped more than 380 millers across Tanzania to fortify their flour, feeding over two million people daily. Brooks-church’s goal is to reach 100 million people with fortified flour by 2025.