Nestle partners African universities to bridge nutritional gap
Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer, Nestle, has partnered with top African universities to develop personnel in the field of nutrition.
Through the official website of the company, Stefan Palzer, Chief Technology Officer Nestlé South Africa, revealed that the company has established an academic network with universities within the regions of the continent to reduce the nutritional chasm between it and the rest of the world.
“Since 2019, we have established collaborations with several leading universities across Western, Central and Eastern Africa. We are working directly with local researchers to put resources towards existing science and technology gaps related to affordable and sustainable nutrition,” Palzer said.
Nestle is currently supporting a significant number of postgraduate students in food science, nutrition and food process engineering in research areas such as the development of highly affordable nutritious foods, the impact of iron fortification on public health and the implications of climate change on food security and nutritional quality at the University of Ghana through a five-year programme, and has joined forces with the University of Ibadan, Nigeria to survey and understand the dietary consumption of children between age four to thirteen in the country.
“This understanding will be applied for the development of affordable nutritious food and beverages,” Palzer stated.
He further explained that the academic-industrial relationship extends beyond the fore mentioned universities.
“Our academic network in sub-Saharan Africa also includes a number of other well-known universities in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, as well as the Swiss Center for Scientific Research in Côte d’Ivoire.
“We also have collaborations in the area of engineering, where Nestlé and other industrial partners set up a 3-year masters program together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and the Ashesi University in Ghana.”
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