Expansion of Local Production Facilities
Expanding local production facilities presents a transformative opportunity for the Africa RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) and RUSF (Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food) market, reducing import reliance, boosting supply chain resilience, and tailoring nutritional interventions to regional needs. In recent years, over 15 African countries have launched local RUTF/RUSF manufacturing units—ranging from large plants in Kenya and Burkina Faso to smaller community-level operations in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Malawi—driven by government policy, donor investment, and private sector innovation.
Local manufacture also supports sourcing of raw materials domestically, creating upstream linkages. For example, the NutriK initiative explicitly plans to partner with local peanut producers, thereby stimulating rural agrarian livelihoods and anchoring the supply chain regionally. Meanwhile, a report on local production in Malawi by VALID Nutrition shows that when RUTF originates locally, over two-thirds of the purchase price remains within the country (versus <15 % for offshore manufacture).
From a supply-chain lens, local production shortens lead times, improves responsiveness in emergency settings and mitigates risks linked to global supply disruptions. For instance, UNICEF reports that about 70% of the RUTF it delivers is now sourced from suppliers in Global South.
Diversification of Product Offerings
The diversification of product offerings represents a key opportunity for the Africa RUTF and RUSF market, enabling manufacturers and aid organizations to better align with varied nutritional needs, regional ingredient availability, cultural preferences, and evolving public health challenges. Traditionally, peanut-based RUTF paste dominated the market for severe acute malnutrition, but recent years have seen innovation and expansion into new formats and ingredient profiles that address both consumer acceptance and supply chain sustainability.
Local production units in Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Ghana have developed alternative RUTF and RUSF formulas featuring plant-based proteins such as soy, chickpeas, lentils, and rice which address milk allergy risks and lower costs. In Ethiopia, pilot programs feature chickpea-and-sorghum-based therapeutic biscuits and fortified wafers, leveraging regionally preferred staples that are more readily accepted by children and caregivers. Additionally, some new formulations include micronutrient adaptations, flavoring, or texture changes to suit local palates, which is especially important in communities with distinctive taste preferences or oral health challenges.
Product diversification also extends to package size and usage format: single-serve sachets, fortified snacks, liquid supplements, and shelf-stable options for different age groups and emergency settings have improved coverage, minimized wastage, and enhanced programmability for health workers.
Partnerships with Local Farmers
Partnerships with local farmers present a major opportunity in the Africa RUTF and RUSF market by ensuring stable raw material supply, improving rural livelihoods, and boosting nutrition through locally sourced, culturally familiar ingredients. Strategic collaboration between manufacturers, farmer cooperatives, public sector institutions, and development agencies has led to the expansion of domestic supply chains for peanuts, soybeans, maize, and legumes critical inputs that anchor RUTF/RUSF production. For example, Africa Improved Foods (AIF) in Rwanda and Yedent Agro Group in Ghana have achieved scale and efficiency by forging deep partnerships with thousands of smallholder farmers, ensuring traceable, high-quality agricultural output directly linked to ready-to-use nutrition products.
In Ghana, Yedent partners with local maize and soy growers to not only stabilize supply but also offer technical support and vocational training, raising yields and quality standards while guaranteeing a reliable income for participants. In Burkina Faso and Kenya, similar models have enabled production facilities to weather global supply chain shocks and price volatility, reducing dependence on imports and cutting lead times for critical nutrition programs. These arrangements have led to the provision of RUTF for hundreds of thousands of children annually, with locally sourced materials making up 80% of total input in some leading factories.
Programs supported by donor agencies, such as the EU’s Farm2Fork initiatives and the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit, are scaling regional farmer engagement across West, East, and Central Africa, combining interest rate subsidies, training, collective infrastructure investment, and digital information hubs for farm-to-factory coordination. This integration also enables the development and rapid scaling of regionally adapted plant-based formulas using indigenous crops chickpeas, millet, sorghum improving nutritional adequacy and cultural acceptance.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant and multifaceted impact on the global RUTF and RUSF market, amplifying underlying vulnerabilities in food security, health systems, and supply chains. Heightened economic disruptions and job losses decreased household food-purchasing power, driving millions more into moderate and severe food insecurity.
Major international organizations like UNICEF and the World Food Program had to ramp up procurement efforts in response, according to a WFP Nutrition Supply Forum document, WFP's purchase trend for Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (LNS) was 54,300 metric tons in 2020.
Pandemic-related border closures, transport delays, and labor shortages triggered supply chain bottlenecks and contributed to price surges in core ingredients. These operational disruptions, combined with rising malnutrition levels from interrupted health and nutrition services, caused an unprecedented surge in demand across all world regions for therapeutic and supplementary foods.
Impact On Africa RUTF and RUSF Market
In Africa, COVID-19’s effects were particularly dramatic because of the continent’s high baseline malnutrition rates and dependence on international nutrition assistance. With lockdowns and mobility restrictions limiting both food access and health facility visits, acute malnutrition rates soared: estimates suggest sub-Saharan Africa saw an additional several million children at risk of wasting in 2020–2022. UNICEF and leading NGOs launched emergency appeals and redirected logistics to prioritize hardest-hit nations such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan.
The economic consequences and disruptions to health services were anticipated to, and did, cause an increase in overall malnutrition levels. An estimated additional 6.7 million children were pushed into undernutrition in 2020 in LMICs, adding to the burden of the 47 million already malnourished.
However, local production shortfalls, international shipping delays, and reduced health outreach limited RUTF and RUSF coverage, with up to 30% fewer malnourished children treated with therapeutic nutrition in some countries during 2020–2021 versus pre-pandemic years. The persistent threat of recurrent waves of infection further impaired recovery programs and amplified reliance on humanitarian food supplies.
Impact On Supply Chain Of Africa RUTF and RUSF Market
COVID-19 severely tested the Africa RUTF and RUSF supply chain by disrupting international ingredient imports, slowing domestic manufacturing, and paralyzing logistics networks. Border closures and port backlogs delayed the arrival of essential raw materials, especially key inputs like milk powder, vitamins, and packaging.
