Expertise France, interview with Cassilde Brenière, Deputy Director General

https://www.afd.fr/fr/lac-victoria-eau-potable-accessible Workers are working at the Butimba water treatment station in Mwanza. AFD supported the construction and rehabilitation of water-related infrastructures, such as new water intakes and treatment control stations, in order to help the city of Mwanza meet the sanitation needs of its growing population. ©Expertise France

Alain Boinet – Hello Cassilde Brenière. We thank you for this interview for Défis Humanitaires. To begin, for our readers, could you present to us the action of Expertise France and your role.

Cassilde Brenière :

Thank you very much Alain, thank you for coming here to Expertise France and for taking an interest in our agency.

Expertise France is the French agency for international technical cooperation. For my part, I am Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the agency, in charge of operations.

Expertise France was created in 2015 through the merger of six operators previously housed within different ministries. This creation marked a desire for renewal of French technical cooperation. Since then, the agency has experienced significant growth, its turnover has multiplied by five and it is today the second largest European technical cooperation agency, with €570M in activity volume in 2025. We now count more than 2,500 collaborators including 1,700 in the field. It is this local anchoring which moreover constitutes our strength.

We are an interministerial governmental agency and, since 2022, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD). Our funding comes essentially from the European Union, from AFD and from French ministries.

Our hallmark rests on our capacity to mobilize, often in peer-to-peer approaches, French and European actors, local actors and to co-construct projects in support of public policies.

https://www.afd.fr/fr/actualites/exister-officiellement-sans-papiers-haiti Verification of administrative documents: an essential gesture to strengthen local governance and access to rights.

Alain Boinet – When one visits the Expertise France website, one realizes the very great diversity of your fields of expertise and intervention in the 4 corners of the world. Can you present your areas of action, your missions and your staff, your partnership policy both in the field and in terms of financing.

Cassilde Brenière :

We operate around six major technical domains, structured into departments.

The first is sustainable development where we work on climate, biodiversity, urban policies, circular economy, agriculture and agricultural value chains.

The second is governance notably financial governance stemming from the former agency ADETEF, which merged within Expertise France. We work on support to issues of structuring taxation, customs, the fight against corruption, budget management, or even the public expenditure chain. We also intervene on strengthening the consideration of human rights, gender, migration, justice and State reform.

The third domain is that of peace, stability and security. We are present in several crisis contexts such as in Syria, in Haiti, in Ethiopia, or even in Ukraine, where we intervene in a cross-cutting manner since 2016. I will come back to this.

The fourth domain, which is our primary field of action and also the most important in terms of project implementation, is health. L’Initiative, which we carry, aims to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. This is a vast program financed by the French contribution to the Global Fund. But we also work to guarantee resilient and equitable health systems, notably by relying on the consideration of human resources in health.

The fifth domain concerns education, vocational training and social protection, with a French model often mobilized in exchanges of experience.

Finally, the sixth domain, which is growing strongly, corresponds to support for the private sector, the sustainable economy and the business environment, in order to promote private investments in partner countries.

On the geographical level, more than 50% of our activity is in Africa, but the specificity of our mandate allows us to intervene in all countries of the world, such as in Latin America, in Asia or in Europe, notably in Ukraine and in Greece.

To do so, we work with many partners: French public administrations (ministries, Court of Auditors..), hospitals, AP-HP, university hospitals, but also local and international civil society.

Alain Boinet – Among all your partners, there is notably civil society and national and international NGOs. How do you cooperate concretely with these actors and what is the specific added value of this sector.

Cassilde Brenière :

Civil society is a major partner of Expertise France. Last year, around 100 million euros were mobilized in direct funding from French civil society but above all from local civil society.

We work, directly, with many associations; for example on the PAGOF program (Partnership for an Open Government) in several West African countries, in Morocco, in Senegal, in Côte d’Ivoire and in Tunisia. The aim is to strengthen public transparency and access to data, by working both with States and with members of civil society. We also mobilize CFI (Canal France International) to strengthen journalists, fact-checking and the role of civil society as a bulwark.

Another example: the European program Africa-Europe Youth Academy (AEYA), which aims to strengthen youth leadership in 18 African countries. We fund associations, and collaborate with universities and schools to develop the skills and leadership of youth through training, mentoring, and spaces for dialogue, with a view, among other things, to guaranteeing better access to the job market.

Alain Boinet – Health is an important sector for Expertise France and you act even in a country at war like Ukraine. Concretely, what can you do in terms of health in this country.

Cassilde Brenière :

Health is a flagship sector for Expertise France in Ukraine. It is one of the 13 countries in which we have opened a country office, which is obviously not the case everywhere, since we cover nearly 150 countries.

Historically, we intervened via L’Initiative in support of the Ministry of Health and associations.

Since the outbreak of the war in 2022, we have developed and reoriented our programs to adapt our actions in a specific way to the urgent needs of reconstruction. We notably launched in January 2025 a program called REHAB, financed by the CDCS and AFD, to support Franco-Ukrainian hospital cooperation and the care of war amputees.

In connection with the AP-HP (public assistance – Paris Hospitals), French surgeons intervened to carry out maxillofacial surgery operations in connection with Ukrainian surgeons, a specialty that did not exist in Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict. In this regard we support the Superhumans center in Lviv and contributed to the launch of a second, in Odessa, whose opening is planned at the end of the first semester of this year.

The other major issue in the country concerns mental health. It will remain so even after the war. Expertise France supports the psychiatric hospital of Chernihiv via the APPUI Santé project, financed by the MEAE and the CDCS.

Alain Boinet – Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a major issue that you hold particularly dear, as does AFD. The very strong demographic growth in Africa and the emergency, development, public health dimension of drinking water is a decisive issue among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030. How does Expertise France contribute to it.

Cassilde Brenière :

Climate change and its consequences (droughts, floods) require an urgent response. Our action in the water sector is multifaceted.

First, on integrated water resources management, we work with the OIEau in West Africa, in Latin America (Euroclima program) and in Georgia, both on good governance and on the valorization of watersheds.

Facing floods, we support the civil protection teams of partner countries in the drafting and updating of their prevention plans. The challenge is to ensure that in the event of an exceptional event, each of them can be organized to limit human impacts but also material ones. This work was carried out for 4 years with the teams of Beninese, Ivorian, Mauritanian, Togolese, Senegalese and Guinean firefighters.

Access to water services is also thought of in a Nexus emergency-development logic. We have for example worked in the east and north-east of Syria on the creation and management of water points, in direct link with local communities.

Finally, one of the axes of reflection concerns urban planning, at the heart of African cities which crystallize the challenges of the century (territorial planning – growing population). In this regard we carry out a very beautiful project with several cities in Ghana within the framework of the Sustainable Cities program.

Alain Boinet – Africa is a continent that experiences very strong demographic growth, which causes for these countries an immense challenge for the years and decades to come. Among all these countries, there is one which has a long-standing recurrent conflict while having an immense development potential for one of the most numerous populations of the continent, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Would you have an example of a project that you carry out in the DRC.

Cassilde Brenière :

The DRC is a major country for Expertise France. Around sixty collaborators work there within the Kinshasa country office.

Our action focuses notably on entrepreneurship. We have a support project for these driving forces called “Pour Elles”. It aims to support women, actors of the Congolese private sector, by financing training activities, by involving national incubators and by promoting female leadership in this job creation process. The aim is to boost the formal sector, because today, many of them suffer from an informal activity that limits their access to labor law.

Pour Elles also has a sports and cultural component. This project aims to bring out inspiring figures and to support a positive dynamic in the country through the practice of sport and the valorization of cultural and heritage riches.

Women entrepreneurs DRC – ©Expertise France

Alain Boinet – Today, global migratory movements constitute a considerable issue, both for northern and southern countries and for public opinions and governments. What type of project do you develop in this field.

Cassilde Brenière :

Migrations concern both so-called Northern countries, and Southern ones. The majority of migrations are moreover between Southern countries, but they are perceived as an issue of domestic policy everywhere in the world.

We work on public migration policies along the entire chain by relying a lot on diasporas, which often have one foot “on both sides” and ultimately belong to both worlds.

When I speak of the entire chain I refer to the fight against human trafficking, the criminal chain, justice, the police and the care of migrants, but also the development of human capital and circular migrations.

The return of populations is therefore a crucial subject. In Morocco for example, the PRIM program supports sub-Saharan migrants and return migrants to facilitate access to rights, to social protection, and to economic integration but also diasporas that invest in their territories of origin.

We also develop circular migration programs, a subject of interest for many European countries whose demography is declining. With an impact notably in sectors such as agriculture, tourism, in connection with vocational training and supervised reception, to allow legal, protected and temporary migrations.

Our approach to migrations is accompanied by a mantra “triple win” : win for the country of origin, win for the migrant person, and win for France.

Alain Boinet – For crisis actors, notably humanitarians, what is called the Nexus, that is to say the coordination of emergency, development, even peace actions, is essential over time. How do you contribute to this process and what can be the role of the private sector as an actor of economic and social development.

Cassilde Brenière :

We seek to support countries in mobilizing their own domestic resources, in Palestine, we collaborate with the Ministry of Finance on resource mobilization, and on customs in order to be able to have sustainable local/national budgets. In Haiti, particular attention is paid to the fight against corruption and illicit trafficking thanks to the strengthening of customs services. In Senegal, on diverted assets that can be returned to the State, more than 50 million could be returned to it.

Concerning the private sector, one of our strategies, which is moreover the one carried by the European Union through what is called the Global Gateway, is to attract investments and mobilize private or local financing to finance development in a lasting way.

It is about creating the conditions for investment by the local private sector or the international and European private sector. This means working on a clear framework between the State, the private sector and the populations. This is what is called the enabling environment: making sure to create a regulatory framework, promoting the digitalization of services, and structuring the new commercial corridors.

On this subject of transfer corridors, the aim is to rethink paths, roads, and the approach to very constraining customs barriers between African countries. More intra-African trade is the guarantee of strong wealth creation and consolidated private investments.

Finally, there is another issue expressed by the private sector that I meet a lot when I go into the field: the need for manpower. There is an issue of vocational training and education. We are attentive to it, and support training institutes in sectors under strain (mines, digital), in order to create the conditions for sustainable investment.

Mechatronics department of IPRC Tumba, financed by the AFTER project of AFD: construction of classrooms, equipped laboratories and recruitment of qualified instructors. Students are working on the printing of a robotic arm using a 3D printer. ©Expertise France

Alain Boinet – You are a reader of Défis Humanitaires. What is for you its added value and what would you like to find more of in the new formula which will appear in the spring to adapt to the new context of geopolitical rupture and the fall of aid financing.

Cassilde Brenière :

First, I have a lot of regard for the humanitarian world. Even if we practice different professions and have sometimes occupied distinct postures, we are very complementary. The partnership between the State, its operators and French civil society is essential and we need civil societies to have a real impact.

We are today in a deeply transformed context, marked by a decrease in financing. This is no longer the world of before. This implies a renewal of technical cooperation, of France’s actions, but also of the humanitarian world.

What I particularly appreciate is the very practical character of the Défis humanitaires journal. Expertise France is also an operator, indeed we work on direct impacts, with concrete tools and experiences to share. There is also a challenge of convincing public opinion more and of showing shared interests.

We see it for example in hospital cooperation. During a recent event, Clotilde DURAND, Head of service, Deputy to the Director General of the Care Offer, Ministry of Health explained that she was often asked why cooperate with Ukraine while the French health system is under strain. Yet, shared interests are obvious, notably on questions of global health and pandemic. Expertise France worked with Guineans on the Ebola epidemic, which they managed to control: it was also in the interest of France.

These cooperations also enrich our professionals. Pneumologists from the AP-HP, engaged on a project in Rwanda, were confronted with clinical cases new to them and that made them progress.

It is important to show — notably through Défis Humanitaires — that these actions serve an objective of solidarity, a value that we defend, but that they also nourish France and strengthen shared interests.

In the current geopolitical context, marked by interdependence (global health, security, climate), we face global challenges that we will not be able to resolve alone.

Défis Humanitaires can highlight concrete, operational cases, which show how humanitarian action and technical cooperation benefit partner countries, beneficiaries, but also France and peace.

Alain Boinet –How would you like to conclude this interview ?

Cassilde Brenière :

I think that we are today at a real crossroads. Between humanitarian action and technical cooperation, there are many common points and we have every interest in sharing our experiences more. One of our specificities is to be a governmental agency and that is part of our identity. In the world that is opening before us, marked by more interdependence but also polarization, human ties are more essential than ever. They play a fundamental role.

For the future, I also believe that it is important to give a stronger role to Europe. We are a deeply European agency and that represents a real asset. Our models, our institutions and our values are levers on which we must rely to work together.

Working in partner countries is also co-constructing, learning from each other and progressing collectively. It is an immense richness.

Our exchanges with France Volontaires, for example, show that there still exist today in France many vocations among young people. These are forces that must be mobilized together.

I would therefore like to conclude on these very positive words, sincerely thanking you for this interview and for your commitment in the face of humanitarian challenges.

Cassilde Brenière– Deputy Director General of Expertise France

Agricultural engineer and of Rural Engineering of Waters and Forests, Cassilde Brenière has contributed for more than 25 years to the emergence of development models having concrete results on final beneficiaries.

After 15 years of experience in the private and associative sector, as a technical assistant among other things in Colombia, Burkina Faso, in the Philippines and in Romania then in charge of an operational unit for the operation of water and sanitation services serving 600,000 inhabitants in the suburbs of Paris, she joined the French Development Agency in 2009, as a project manager, before becoming head of the division in charge of all water and sanitation projects financed by AFD in the world.

In 2016, she expatriates to Morocco to become deputy director of the AFD agency in Rabat for 4 years where she supervised the teams of one of the largest AFD agencies and brought out new activities favorable to gender equality, a strong commitment of her entire professional and personal path.

She is then appointed deputy director of the Executive Operations Directorate of AFD in Paris in 2020 then deputy director general in charge of operations of Expertise France in 2023.

Since she joined AFD, Cassilde had at heart to contribute to the international debate on water and natural resources, climate in particular on adaptation, gender and their financing as well as to the evolution of AFD’s ways of doing on the strengthening of institutions, accountability and overall the posture of AFD as a donor.

“My fight against malnutrition”

Interview with Michel Lescanne, founder of Nutriset.

Sorting peanuts, which are used in the manufacture of Plumpy’nut, at Hilina, Nutriset Group’s Ethiopian partner.

President and founder of the Nutriset Group and co-inventor of Plumpy’Nut, the first RUTF, Michel Lescanne has just published his memoirs with Eyrolles, with the help of journalist Christian Troubé. Here, he answers our questions.

Alain Boinet:

You’ve just published a book entitled “Mon combat contre la malnutrition” (“My fight against malnutrition”). When and why did you start this fight?

Michel Lescanne:

I founded Nutriset in 1986 on the basis of intuition and determination. As an agricultural engineer, I was convinced that the food industry had solutions to offer to help solve what was then known as “world hunger”. During my studies, I chose as the subject of my dissertation a study on the manufacture of a nutritious cookie for malnourished children in what was then known as the “Third World”. The skepticism of my university jury only strengthened my resolve to succeed. And then there’s my family background. In Normandy, my father ran a dairy cooperative, which later became the Nova Group. So, from childhood, I was immersed in this world. Very early on, reading the works of René Dumont and Josué de Castro helped me to deepen and enrich my objective: to feed these children in distress. It was immediately obvious to me that this would be achieved by setting up a company.

AB:

The early stages of any innovative project are often long and difficult before they succeed. What were the main stages in Nutriset’s development?

ML:

An entrepreneur’s journey is often made up of both successes and failures, from which you need to learn. At Nutriset, we had one compass: to put all our energy into designing products that could save the lives of malnourished children. And the only question we asked ourselves before making a decision was: is this going to help vulnerable populations? When you have a clear mandate, everything becomes clearer. What’s more, we weren’t acting alone, but in liaison with an ecosystem just as motivated as we were: the nutrition researchers who, in their labs, invented formulations, and the humanitarians who tested the products in the field and passed on their requests to us. It was a time of intense mobilization. This enabled us to design and scale up the first F-100 and F-75 high-energy milks, and then, in the mid-1990s, to offer the first ready-to-use therapeutic food in solid form, Plumpy’Nut. This first RUTF – and all the subsequent products targeting the various forms of malnutrition – was at the origin of a veritable revolution in the field: treatment was taken care of directly by the families affected, enabling an ever-increasing number of malnourished children to be helped. Step by step, Nutriset has been able to offer treatment and prevention solutions for children, pregnant and breast-feeding women, people suffering from illnesses such as AIDS, and products for the elderly suffering from malnutrition in France.

Plumpy’nut, the first RUTF for treating malnutrition, has given rise to a wider range of treatment and prevention products. Here is the lipid supplementation product (SQ-LNS) Enov-Nutributter, designed to improve the growth of young children.

AB:

Some twenty years ago, you set up partnerships with local companies in a dozen countries. What was your idea back then? And what stage has this project reached?

ML:

Right from the start, we had the intuition that our products had to be manufactured as close as possible to where they were needed, in the very countries where malnutrition was rife. But there was nothing obvious about that. We had to find local agri-food companies capable of manufacturing our products to the required quality standards and ensuring the supply of raw materials. Many humanitarian organizations were skeptical about the issue. With time, we were able to move forward, using the franchise or subsidiary model. This year, we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the PlumpyField network. It’s a source of great pride for us: today, almost half of Nutriset’s nutritional solutions are manufactured locally. This has enabled international humanitarian organizations and the governments of these countries to open new programs and, consequently, to come to the aid of ever more children and vulnerable people. What’s more, these industrial structures are real levers of development for their countries, structuring upstream and downstream agricultural and agro-industrial sectors. The PlumpyField network is present in around ten countries, in Africa, South-East Asia and Haiti. It is set to expand further.

A Plumpy’nut production line at Tanjaka, a member of the PlumpyField network based in Madagascar.

AB:

The world has changed a lot in the last 40 years. How do you see the fight against malnutrition today?

ML:

A great deal of progress has been made in this field over the past forty years, and Nutriset has been able to make a major contribution. Those involved in the fight against malnutrition – Unicef, the World Food Program, NGOs and local governments – now have access to easy-to-use products of recognized effectiveness. But what is sorely lacking is funding, and therefore political will. The figures are still terribly alarming! Malnutrition and its associated causes are responsible for one in two deaths among children under the age of five. If we take into account undernutrition, synonymous with wasting, stunted growth and underweight, micronutrient deficiencies affecting one child in two and one woman in three, overweight and obesity, the new scourge of our century, hundreds of millions of people are concerned! So we must not give up! The recent international Nutrition for Growth summit in Paris showed that it is possible to mobilize all players: public authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, foundations, governments and the private sector. Over 27 billion dollars were pledged to combat malnutrition. At the same time, however, we are receiving contradictory signals from the United States and other donor countries, with an incomprehensible drop in their Official Development Assistance.

The Hilina company in Addis Ababa is a long-standing partner of Nutriset. Fifty years after the great famines that ravaged Ethiopia, this company now covers almost all of the country’s nutritional needs.

AB:

Indeed, President Trump’s US administration recently cut the USAID agency and froze many programs and funding. Similarly, many countries are reducing their Official Development Assistance and humanitarian action. Does this have consequences for the Nutriset Group, your partners and anti-malnutrition programs, and how do you cope?

ML:

Our main buyers are Unicef and the World Food Programme, which are heavily affected by the US restrictions, as are the major international NGOs. Like all humanitarian actors, we observe the day-to-day fluctuations in the US administration’s decisions, notably through our American member of the PlumpyField network, the Edesia company. Like everyone else, we’ve taken note of this abrupt shift by the world’s leading lender, and the disastrous consequences it entails. With less money, we’re going to have to be imaginative and agile. For Nutriset, this means pursuing and expanding our localization policy, for example, by working with new players such as foundations, or by developing specific programs directly with governments. This is what we are doing, for example, in Benin and Côte d’Ivoire.

AB:

What advice would you give to a young person wanting to get involved today?

ML:

Every generation has its own approach to the world and its own way of looking at solutions. I can see that we are entering a world where risks are multiplying, from global warming to the new rules of the geopolitical game, but I remain unfailingly optimistic about human nature’s ability to transcend itself, to give the best of itself. I would say to a young person making a commitment today that, if they have a strong conviction, they must cultivate it and be faithful to it, even in moments of doubt.

Nana Hadiza, 28, holds her twin daughters in her arms as they sit on a hospital bed at Maradi University Hospital in Niger. The twins are being treated for malnutrition with ready-to-use therapeutic foods from Nutriset. © UNICEF/UN0535873/Dejongh

AB:

How would you like to conclude this interview?

ML:

Your magazine has a beautiful title: “Humanitarian Challenges.” For forty years, I have had the good fortune to work alongside exceptional people in humanitarian agencies and NGOs. In a way, we have “grown up together.” I would therefore like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all those who have brought this commitment to life and continue to do so today. At the beginning of my book, I recall the figure of Dr. Pascal Grellety-Bosviel, a Red Cross doctor in the 1980s, who inspired me greatly, along with so many others. I would like to salute all the humanitarian workers of the new generation and tell them not to give up! The fight continues!

My Fight Against Malnutrition, by Michel Lescanne, with Christian Troubé (Editions Eyrolles, $24)

Michel Lescanne:

“Your idea has no future, sir!” Despite having just submitted his final thesis, young agricultural engineer Michel Lescanne remained faithful to his dream: to develop products to combat world hunger. In the 1970s, with famines in Africa dominating the headlines, the challenge was immense. And the obstacles were numerous. Today, the Nutriset Group, which he founded in 1986, is present wherever malnutrition is rife, in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even France, saving millions of children and adults. It is this remarkable journey that its founder recounts here.

Christian Troubé

A senior reporter specializing in international relations, Christian Troubé first became involved in humanitarian work in the early 1980s during the war in Lebanon. As a journalist, he went on to accompany various NGOs in numerous fields of action. He also served as a volunteer administrator for Action Against Hunger. Author of numerous books on humanitarian issues, he now puts his experience to work for the Nutriset Group, advising on its strategic communications.

Book review: “My Fight Against Malnutrition”

Faced with an alarming situation, “Today, one in four children under the age of five worldwide is malnourished, 165 million suffer from stunted growth, and 50 million are affected by acute malnutrition, which seriously jeopardizes their precarious existence,” Nutriset presents itself as a company specializing in the production of nutritional solutions, with a social mission to combat malnutrition.

Founded in 1986 in Normandy, it has gradually established itself as a key player in this cause on a global scale, combining innovation, scientific expertise, and humanitarian commitment.

A story to understand a struggle: the book My Fight Against Malnutrition

The book My Fight Against Malnutrition, written by Michel Lescanne, founder of Nutriset, and co-authored with journalist Christian Troubé, recounts the development of the company in fifteen chapters, while highlighting the major developments in the fight against malnutrition. This is not simply an entrepreneurial account, but a committed, innovative reflection on experience, providing valuable insight into international humanitarian dynamics. Nutriset’s expertise, as a key player in the sector, makes it a strategic tool for thinking about the challenges of tomorrow.

Raising awareness of malnutrition

It all began in the late 1980s. Michel Lescanne, the son of a dairy farmer in a Normandy cooperative, grew up immersed in the world of nutrition. From an early age, he developed a particular sensitivity to issues of access to food in humanitarian crisis situations.

At that time, child malnutrition was a silent emergency. Famines were addressed through emergency interventions that were often ill-suited to the realities on the ground. The famine in Ethiopia (1984-85), followed by the upheavals of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, highlighted the inadequacy of existing mechanisms. Therapeutic feeding remained underdeveloped, dependent on cumbersome hospital-based solutions that were difficult for the most vulnerable families to access in troubled situations.

It was in this context that, in 1993, Nutriset developed an innovation: F-75 and F-100 therapeutic milks, designed for the effective treatment of severe malnutrition in health centers. These products laid the foundations for Nutriset’s recognition in the humanitarian world.

This discovery presented many challenges for the company. The transition from an individual project in a house in Normandy to the creation of a sustainable structure involved recruiting a team, defining a clear mandate, and seeking funding.

Above all, the latter had to address a structural tension: reconciling economic imperatives with its social mission. How can a corporate status coexist with a non-profit commitment focused on products of public interest? To gain legitimacy, Nutriset must convince, forge alliances, and prove the effectiveness of its solutions. The first NGO partners, by testing the products in the field, such as Action Against Hunger in 1993 in Rwanda, actively participate in their continuous improvement.

Plumpy’Nut: an innovation that is transforming the fight against malnutrition

Since its creation, Nutriset has focused on research and innovation. The company relies on a network of scientists, nutritionists, doctors, NGOs, and laboratories to develop solutions adapted to the constraints of the field. It is within this framework that Plumpy’Nut emerged, a revolutionary Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) developed to address the limitations of therapeutic milks.

Plumpy’Nut is a ready-to-use peanut-based paste rich in calories, protein, and essential micronutrients. Stable and requiring no refrigeration, it can be administered at home without water, allowing families to participate in the healing process. This paradigm shift not only lightens the burden on medical facilities, but above all puts mothers back at the heart of the care process.

This innovation is supported by significant advocacy work with international organizations. Thanks to these efforts, Nutriset has become a partner of major United Nations agencies such as the WFP (World Food Programme) and UNICEF. These partnerships mark the institutionalization of the RUTF approach, which is becoming a global standard in the fight against severe acute malnutrition.

An international company facing contemporary challenges

In 2005, Nutriset initiated a change of scale with the creation of the PlumpyField network, which now has 11 members in several countries in the Global South. This franchise strategy enables decentralized production, closer to local needs, while promoting the autonomy of industrial partners and making a valuable contribution to the food sovereignty of the countries concerned. Today, one-third of Nutriset’s production is carried out by this network.

As part of a global response, Nutriset is also developing targeted product ranges, such as the 1000 Days program, which covers the nutritional needs of pregnant women until their children reach the age of two. These developments reflect an evolution in the socio-cultural approach to nutrition, integrating local dietary practices and family realities.

The company is part of a multi-stakeholder approach, bringing together the public and private sectors, NGOs, researchers, doctors, and nutritionists around a common goal: a coordinated fight against malnutrition, rooted in the dynamics on the ground. This transdisciplinary alliance makes it possible to adapt practices in response to successive crises (Rwanda, Syria, Sahel, etc.) and the latest scientific data.

Challenges for tomorrow: thinking about the future of humanitarian nutrition

Nutriset is part of a broader international movement, notably the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched in 2000, which aimed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, and, since 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Today, with the proliferation of crises and the evolution of humanitarian response, the issues are becoming more complex.

Michel Lescanne identifies several major challenges for the coming years:

The proliferation of conflicts, requiring a transition from ad hoc aid to sustainable aid
The increase in humanitarian needs, linked to political, economic, and climate crises
The need for constant innovation, with products that respect people and the environment and are produced as close as possible to the areas of intervention
Further reflection on products that place nutrition at the heart of health issues.

Nutriset intends to respond to these challenges by pursuing its mission: to put science at the service of the most vulnerable and to continue to make nutrition a fundamental right accessible to all.

My fight against malnutrition is not just the story of an entrepreneurial journey, it is a call to action. Through Michel Lescanne’s commitment and Nutriset’s trajectory, this book powerfully reminds us that innovation, combined with determination, can save millions of lives. Faced with a persistent scourge, it charts a demanding but necessary course: making nutrition accessible to all!