DSM is committed to addressing the problem of micronutrient deficiency – or ‘hidden hunger’– a problem that affects an estimated 2 billion people across the world.

The private sector has a crucial role to play in addressing the problem of hidden hunger in both the developed and the developing world through the development of new business models, and nutritious food and food supplements, tailored to the specific needs of particular population groups.

DSM is for example delivering support to the World Food Programme through donating its MixMe™ sachets - a single dose sachet of vitamins and minerals that can be sprinkled over food just before serving or eating.

In March 2009 DSM announced a scientific breakthrough in tackling iron deficiency in malaria areas.

In May 2009 DSM received the international GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition (PDF: 35 Kb) for NutriRice™.

On the occasion of the Micronutrient Forum 2009 in Beijing, DSM has started to raise awareness for what is in danger of becoming a forgotten issue and signed a private sector declaration (PDF: 21 Kb) calling for action.

DSM took a further step in the fight against ‘hidden hunger’ by participating in the Amsterdam Initiative on Malnutrition (AIM) (PDF: 75 Kb), a Dutch public-private partnership, launched in May 2009, aiming at eliminating malnutrition for 100 million people in Africa by 2015.

In July 2009 DSM announced that it has officially endorsed the ‘Roadmap to End Global Hunger’, a strategy announced by a broad based coalition of leading humanitarian organizations aimed at addressing global hunger through short, mid range and long term initiatives.

On 25 September 2009 at the Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Bill Clinton announced 'Project Laser Beam' (PDF: 40 Kb), a groundbreaking programme to radically reduce malnutrition. The Programme will combine the know-how of the UN World Food Programme with the technologies and business expertise of DSM and other partners such as GAIN, Heinz, Kraft Foods and Unilever.

Ahead of the International Conference on Nutrition in Bangkok, on 4 October 2009, SIGHT and LIFE organised a high-level meeting of experts that agreed on the need to prioritize the problem of hidden hunger on the global health and development agenda and identified the current priority of micronutrients towards achieving nutrition security. The Panel also committed itself to creating the world’s first comprehensive hidden hunger map, that would assist in focusing attention on the magnitude of the hidden hunger scourge.