Assist in developing human resources at the minimum level of 20% of total dietitians or nutrition specialists required in Vietnamese hospitals

Nutritional initiatives of the Ajinomoto Foundation

1) Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project: We will contribute to improving the nutrition status of infants in Ghana to the level of national targets to reduce the stunting ratio from 21% in 2018 to 14% in 2025 and build a sustainable model through collaborative activities with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Yedent Agro Food Processing and EXP Social Marketing Foundation, as well increase the number of care-givers who make behavioural changes (consider a balanced diet and use KOKO Plus®) to 430,000 people (30% of the target population) in 2025. In addition to collaborating with the UN World Food Programme, Japanese government, agencies, embassies, local partners and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and especially the GHS, we focus on understanding the beneficiaries and approaching and responding to each individual to practically improve the nutrition status of infants with our product KOKO Plus, a food supplement for infants developed, produced and distributed in Ghana in collaboration with our various partners. A model that enables important activities and enhances feasibility is nearly established, and after building up and strengthening this model in Ghana, we would like to contribute to improving the situation in other countries in Africa that have similar problems. 2) Vietnam Nutrition-system Establishment Project: We will support the development of nutritional human resources and the establishment of clinical and public nutrition (including school nutrition) systems, in cooperation with the national institutions of Vietnam, to improve the nutrition and health of the Vietnamese people. Specifically, in clinical nutrition, we will help in building human resources to the minimum level of 20% of the total dietitians or nutrition specialists required in Vietnamese hospitals to support Vietnam's national goal of assigning 1 dietitian or nutrition professional per 100 hospital beds by 2025 (a total of 2,500 professionals required). To achieve the above, we will spend 100 million yen from 2021 to 2025 and leverage the support and know-how of experts for improving the quality of education and training and developing education and nutrition management tools, nutritional research and public relations activities. 3) Ajinomoto International Cooperation Network for Nutrition and Health: We will provide grants totalling over 100 million yen between 2021 and 2025 for organisations working internationally to solve food and nutrition issues through practical activities in Africa, South America and Asia. In addition, we will provide know-how for sustainable activities to improve and leave an impact on the quality of life for people. 4) Disaster-Stricken Nutrition: We will distribute the ARIGATO Recipe Collection – created based on the know-how of the community participatory cooking classes we have conducted for 10 years, since the Great East Japan Earthquake – to 50,000 people nationwide. Using this tool, we will support the management of local cooking classes to urge healthy eating habits for residents by supporting the activity of ‘cooking together and eating together’ in the regions. And we also will provide training and seminars to diet and nutrition volunteers 120 times in the coming two years to contribute to the capacity-building of nutrition volunteers to communicate effectively with local communities in 60% of the municipalities in the three prefectures hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake. In addition, we will contribute to the creation of a system in which the food and nutrition of disaster victims are neither neglected nor postponed in the event of disasters that will almost surely strike Japan in the future. We support people and organisations that are rooted in the community and carry out local support activities in the context of food and nutrition, in accordance with the 4th Food Education Promotion Basic Plan and Disaster Prevention Basic Plan of the Japanese government. We provide the information and know-how accumulated through the reconstruction support project in Tohoku and the disaster-prevention activity network from the last decade to revitalise local community support activities that reduce the mental and physical health risks of residents and extend healthy life expectancy, aiming to ‘build back better’ for individuals and communities.