A global partnership for fighting hunger
Volunteers from leading food companies share their expertise with African food processors
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 17, 2017 – Food companies and entrepreneurs across Africa are benefitting from the expertise of an organization supported by some of the brightest minds in the food industry.
Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) connects corporate experts with the food sector in several countries in Africa, where one in four in sub-Saharan Africans lacks adequate food to live a healthy, active life.
In 2008, PFS started as an employee volunteer program within General Mills. Today, it’s an independent nonprofit consortium of volunteers and retirees from six companies: General Mills, Cargill, DSM (Dutch), Bühler (Swiss), Hershey and Ardent Mills.
“Partners in Food Solutions was born from the clear-eyed passion of General Mills leaders and employees who believed that the company had a responsibility to help improve food security and nutrition throughout Africa,” says Jeff Dykstra, a co-founder of Partners in Food Solutions, and now the organization’s CEO. “This work that has allowed us to engage and improve hundreds of food companies to benefit millions of consumers and farmers would have never happened without the vision and commitment of General Mills.”
The companies involved in PFS fund and provide experts with deep food knowledge and experience solving technical problems, ensuring food safety and developing products.
Employee volunteers primarily communicate with PFS clients via videoconferencing.
Learn more about Partners in Food Solutions, from interviews with Jeff Dykstra, CEO of PFS, and Madison Barre, a research and development engineer at General Mills (who has volunteered with small food companies in Malawi, Ethiopia and Kenya), in episode 26 of the “A Taste of General Mills” podcast.
To view the full article and listen to the podcast, visit: https://blog.generalmills.com/2017/10/a-passion-for-fighting-hunger/
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