As part of its strategic collaboration with UNICEF under the Child Nutrition Fund, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) closed its first child-lens investment with a $2.5 million USD loan to Ariel Foods FZE, a Nigerian company specializing in lifesaving therapeutic foods for children.

©UNICEF/2015/Rich

This marks the first investment under the Nutrition Supplier Finance Facility, an innovative financing partnership between UNCDF and UNICEF launched last year with support from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The Facility deploys catalytic financing to support investment in the local supplier market and supply chain resilience for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF). 

UNCDF’s blended financing will support the on-site installation of processing equipment for local suppliers of raw peanuts and other legumes such as soy and chickpeas. Peanuts are a key ingredient in RUTF, designed to combat severe childhood malnutrition in fragile and conflict-affected settings. It will also help unlock future opportunities to source key inputs for the child nutrition and humanitarian supply chain from local smallholder farmers and micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses.  

The investment not only empowers local farmers with sustainable offtake revenue possibilities, but also reduces reliance on imports, building resilience in local and global supply chains and putting African-grown produce at the center of the fight against childhood malnutrition. Locally supported supply chains help governments and agencies on the ground, including UNICEF, reach more children with essential nutrition supplies to combat the devastating consequences of child malnutrition.

This latest investment is an example of how UNCDF advances and complements the work of the wider UN development system, leveraging its unique capital mandate to drive financing to high-risk, and often underserved markets. It also sends a signal to private capital providers that investments in humanitarian supply chains can achieve both financial returns and transformational development impact.

“We are pleased to be coming in as a first mover in humanitarian and child-lens investment and supporting the Government of Nigeria’s strategy for nutrition and food security,” said UNCDF Executive Secretary Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, “This is a case study for UNCDF demonstrating its added value within the UN system and the wider financial architecture. With this investment, we are moving the humanitarian supplier market toward more sustainable footing and paving the way for private capital to invest in child welfare, smallholder farmers and humanitarian supply chains.”

"Over the last decade, we have made extraordinary global progress in providing treatment for life-threatening wasting, reaching 80 per cent of affected children in Africa in 2023," said Kitty van der Heijden, Deputy Executive Director, Partnerships, UNICEF. "To sustain this progress, we need a vibrant and healthy market of local manufacturers producing essential nutrition supplies to prevent and treat malnutrition. This investment demonstrates our commitment to manufacturing these products in Africa and our support for African businesses dedicated to improving children's health and well-being across the continent. We are excited to build on this success and continue working with UNCDF to extend these new financing opportunities to more partners throughout the region."

“This is an exciting step forward for Ariel Foods,” said Dessa Shuckerow, Ariel Foods Chief Operating Officer. “We are thrilled to partner with UNCDF, whose strategic vision aligns so closely with ours. This partnership strengthens our efforts to create a circular economy where families of the recipients of our special food ultimately become our business partners by supplying us with peanuts. We are especially grateful for the extraordinary support by UNICEF which has been a cornerstone of our success. We also appreciate the support from WFP and USAID whose collaboration has further strengthened our ability to address critical nutritional needs. By fostering durable supply chain relationships with farmers and producers, we are building a lasting impact in the local economy while combatting child malnutrition”

The Nutrition Supplier Finance Facility is managed independently by UNCDF and designed to leverage UNCDF’s unique mandate within the UN to deploy loans and guarantees, in support of UNICEF’s Global Nutrition Strategy for children and women. It is a scalable, replicable template for UNCDF’s engagement within the wider UN Development System and a model for accelerating financing for development and the 2030 SDG Agenda.

The investment follows UNICEF’s recently released report No Time to Waste 2024 Update and global call for $165 million to fund therapeutic feeding, treatment and care for the more than two million children at risk of death due to critical shortages of RUTF.  

With targeted investments such as this one aimed at building more efficient, sustainable and localized supply chains while reducing the cost of food aid, each dollar of funding in response to UNICEF’s global call can go farther.

About the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

UNCDF mobilizes and catalyzes an increase in capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States, especially Least Developed Countries, contributing to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.

In partnership with UN entities and development partners, UNCDF delivers scalable, blended finance solutions to drive systemic change, pave the way for commercial finance, and contribute to the SDGs. We support market development by enabling entities to access finance in high-risk environments by deploying financial instruments, mechanisms and advisory.

Follow us on LinkedIn and X: @UNCDF

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit www.unicef.org

Follow UNICEF on X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

Investment Disclaimer
UNCDF is solely responsible for management and implementation of the Facility, including all investment decisions. UNICEF will have no liability in relation to the Nutrition Supplier Finance Facility or any of its financial instruments. UNICEF does not endorse nor make any recommendation as to any investment, company or product.