Workers at a mill in Dar es Salaam remove corncob debris from maize before it is milled.
The invention ending
hidden hunger
healthy development of people and planet.
Could a single machine be the solution?
This article reports on the impact of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative, which supports outstanding individuals
and organizations that are implementing novel solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
The initiative highlights the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, a program that for over four decades has recognized changemakers from around the world, including Felix Brooks-church, who is featured in this story.
There’s a moment so etched in Felix Brooks-church’s memory, not a day goes by without him thinking of it. Brooks-church had been working on the “dosifier,” in theory a revolutionary piece of machinery with the power to end malnutrition around the world, for the past few years with just one small problem — he couldn’t get it to work.
But that day, in Sankhu, a secluded hilltop village a couple of hours’ drive outside Kathmandu, the dosifier finally did what it was designed to do. “I had tears in my eyes,” remembered Brooks-church, an American social entrepreneur who, during a stint volunteering in Cambodia, witnessed first-hand how malnutrition was stunting children’s physical and cognitive development. Since then, Brooks-church has worked to improve education and nutrition in several developing countries. “It
finally, finally worked. And it was at that point that I thought, ‘We’re going all the way.’”
The dosifier does something that sounds simple, but has, in the past, been hailed “impossible.” The problem it aims to solve — malnutrition — is sometimes called “hidden hunger,” because it isn’t about a lack of food, but rather a lack of nutritious food. And the consequences are severe.
Without the right micronutrients — vitamins and minerals such as iron, folic acid, iodine, and vitamin D — human bodies and brains cannot develop properly. Without the strong immune systems that micronutrients help build, UNICEF says, millions of children die from preventable diseases, and millions of undernourished pregnant women carry babies that cannot develop adequately in the womb.
Since the 1920s, the Western world has had a system to ensure micronutrients make it into diets: large-scale fortification. Staple foods are routinely fortified with micronutrients; think iodized salt or cereals with added iron. But the highest rates of malnutrition tend to occur in poorer, more rural nations, where small village communities get their food from the local miller rather than a large, centralized operation. Various attempts at small-scale fortification have routinely failed.
MICRONUTRIENT:
IronIron helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body.
Lack of iron impacts
concentration and attentiveness, including verbal learning and memory, and can cause physical fatigue and heart disease.
“On paper, small-scale fortification makes total sense,” Brooks-church explained. “You give the local miller a bucket of powdered micronutrients and a scoop, and they just put it in the mill.” Pilot programs, however, haven’t proved successful.
“The issue is that you’re relying on someone to do a critical, accurate job every single day, exactly the same way,” Brooks-church went on. “And there’s a lot of human error.”
Enter the dosifier.
MICRONUTRIENT:
IronIron helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body.
Lack of iron impacts
concentration and attentiveness, including verbal learning and memory, and can cause physical fatigue and heart disease.
Without the right micronutrients — vitamins and minerals such as iron, folic acid, iodine, and vitamin D — human bodies and brains cannot develop properly. Without the strong immune systems that micronutrients help build, UNICEF says, millions of children die from preventable diseases, and millions of undernourished pregnant women carry babies that cannot develop adequately in the womb.
Since the 1920s, the Western world has had a system to ensure micronutrients make it into diets: large-scale fortification. Staple foods are routinely fortified with micronutrients; think iodized salt or cereals with added iron. But the highest rates of malnutrition tend to occur in poorer, more rural nations, where small village communities get their food from the local miller rather than a large, centralized operation. Various attempts at small-scale fortification have routinely failed.
“On paper, small-scale fortification makes total sense,” Brooks-church explained. “You give the local miller a bucket of powdered micronutrients and a scoop, and they just put it in the mill.” Pilot programs, however, haven’t proved successful.
“The issue is that you’re relying on someone to do a critical, accurate job every single day, exactly the same way,” Brooks-church went on. “And there’s a lot of human error.”
Enter the dosifier.
A new solution
The dosifier is a lightweight piece of equipment that allows millers to effortlessly “dose” their flour with the precise measure of nutrients needed. Flour is a staple of many developing nations’ diets because it is cheap and filling. But it is not naturally nutritious. With the help of the dosifier, however, that staple becomes a powerhouse of nutrition.
The idea was originally conceived by David Dodson, a Stanford University professor. After developing a prototype with Stanford students, Dodson brought Brooks-church aboard to lead the engineering of a scalable technology that could realistically feed hundreds of millions of people. When another program, the Micronutrient Initiative in Nepal, got wind of Dodson’s efforts, they proposed a partnership, which led to giving Brooks-church a crucial opportunity to stress-test the dosifier in rural mills.
MICRONUTRIENT:
Folic acidFolic acid is essential
for healthy cell growth and function. It’s pivotal during pregnancy
to reduce risk of
birth defects of the
brain and spine.
After that memorable day in Sankhu, when the dosifier first worked, Brooks-church began sharing his success story with the wider community of organizations working in global nutrition. Word soon reached USAID in Tanzania. The largely rural, East African country suffers high micronutrient deficiency rates — malnutrition is a common cause of death for under-fives — and a staple diet of maize flour. USAID asked Brooks-church to travel to Tanzania and demo the machine. The test was successful, and USAID placed its first bulk order.
With their first commercial commission in hand, Brooks-church and Dodson created a social enterprise capable of quickly scaling the production of fortified flour in local African mills. They named it Sanku, in honor of that fateful Nepalese village, and Brooks-church relocated to Tanzania.
A new solution
The dosifier is a lightweight piece of equipment that allows millers to effortlessly “dose” their flour with the precise measure of nutrients needed. Flour is a staple of many developing nations’ diets because it is cheap and filling. But it is not naturally nutritious. With the help of the dosifier, however, that staple becomes a powerhouse of nutrition.
The idea was originally conceived by David Dodson, a Stanford University professor. After developing a prototype with Stanford students, Dodson brought Brooks-church aboard to lead the engineering of a scalable technology that could realistically feed hundreds of millions of people. When another program, the Micronutrient Initiative in Nepal, got wind of Dodson’s efforts, they proposed a partnership, which led to giving Brooks-church a crucial opportunity to stress-test the dosifier in rural mills.
After that memorable day in Sankhu, when the dosifier first worked, Brooks-church began sharing his success story with the wider community of organizations working in global nutrition. Word soon reached USAID in Tanzania. The largely rural, East African country suffers high micronutrient deficiency rates — malnutrition is a common cause of death for under-fives — and a staple diet of maize flour. USAID asked Brooks-church to travel to Tanzania and demo the machine. The test was successful, and USAID placed its first bulk order.
MICRONUTRIENT:
Folic acidFolic acid is essential
for healthy cell growth and function. It’s pivotal during pregnancy
to reduce risk of
birth defects of the
brain and spine.
With their first commercial commission in hand, Brooks-church and Dodson created a social enterprise capable of quickly scaling the production of fortified flour in local African mills. They named it Sanku, in honor of that fateful Nepalese village, and Brooks-church relocated to Tanzania.
Felix Brooks-church and a worker at a mill in Yangeyange, Dar es Salaam, operate the dosifier.
The Laureate Questionnaire
Felix Brooks-church explains how Rolex is helping him expand the dosifier’s reach in East Africa.
-
What does the Rolex Award for Enterprise mean to you?
The Award was a huge honor. It doesn’t only help us buy more dosifiers but raises awareness and attracts the investment we need to keep scaling up. One thing I really want to highlight, though, is that this project is a team effort. I want to ensure my co-founder, David Dodson, and the Sanku team also receive credit.
-
How would you describe the impact of the Award?
The attention we get from the Award means more people learn about what we’re doing and want to support us. Hidden hunger isn’t talked about nearly enough. I think ending malnutrition starts there: better awareness of what a big issue it is, so that people want to get involved and start supporting organizations like us.
Solving
at scale
First, Sanku needed a business model that allowed small, local millers to use the dosifier at no extra cost to themselves or their customers. Simply put, to ensure millers used the dosifier, Sanku had to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Brooks-church described the ideal pitch like this: “You get this cool piece of machinery that does the job for you, you get to be a health hero in your community, and it doesn’t cost you or your customers anything.”
The solution: to incentivize millers to use the dosifier, Sanku pays for the machines using contributions from philanthropic donors. It then offsets the cost of the millers’ micronutrients by buying empty flour bags cheaply in bulk, then selling these empty bags to millers at market price (the millers need these bags for packing their flour). The tiny margin covers the cost of the nutrients, so that Sanku can also provide these free of charge.
MICRONUTRIENT:
IodineIodine aids bone and brain development during pregnancy and the early years of a child’s life. It’s also fundamental to a healthy metabolism.
Brooks-church also discovered early in the scaling-up process that they needed to make the machines “smart.” Sometimes, dosifiers would malfunction, and the Sanku team wouldn’t learn of it for weeks. “You’d have a population not eating fortified flour for all that time,” Brooks-church said. “For us at Sanku, that was unacceptable.”
The fix: making the machine “accountable” with remote monitoring. An inbuilt cellular module now enables each dosifier to provide real-time insights to the Sanku team. This helps surface problems without delay, allowing Sanku to send an engineer instantaneously.
“I could be anywhere in the world and yet, right now, on my phone, I can show you what a tiny mill in the corner of Tanzania is producing every couple of minutes,” Brooks-church said. “That still blows my mind.”
Solving
at scale
First, Sanku needed a business model that allowed small, local millers to use the dosifier at no extra cost to themselves or their customers. Simply put, to ensure millers used the dosifier, Sanku had to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Brooks-church described the ideal pitch like this: “You get this cool piece of machinery that does the job for you, you get to be a health hero in your community, and it doesn’t cost you or your customers anything.”
The solution: to incentivize millers to use the dosifier, Sanku pays for the machines using contributions from philanthropic donors. It then offsets the cost of the millers’ micronutrients by buying empty flour bags cheaply in bulk, then selling these empty bags to millers at market price (the millers need these bags for packing their flour). The tiny margin covers the cost of the nutrients, so that Sanku can also provide these free of charge.
Brooks-church also discovered early in the scaling-up process that they needed to make the machines “smart.” Sometimes, dosifiers would malfunction, and the Sanku team wouldn’t learn of it for weeks. “You’d have a population not eating fortified flour for all that time,” Brooks-church said. “For us at Sanku, that was unacceptable.”
MICRONUTRIENT:
IodineIodine aids bone and brain development during pregnancy and the early years of a child’s life. It’s also fundamental to a healthy metabolism.
The fix: making the machine “accountable” with remote monitoring. An inbuilt cellular module now enables each dosifier to provide real-time insights to the Sanku team. This helps surface problems without delay, allowing Sanku to send an engineer instantaneously.
“I could be anywhere in the world and yet, right now, on my phone, I can show you what a tiny mill in the corner of Tanzania is producing every couple of minutes,” Brooks-church said. “That still blows my mind.”
How food can fix the planet
a bold goal
Malnutrition doesn’t only impact a child’s physical and cognitive development. It stunts the growth of developing nations, too. “There are huge implications when you talk about an entire generation being malnourished, and what opportunities are lost to a country,” Brooks-church said.
Malnutrition is a global problem — the UN estimates more than 2 billion people around the world are food insecure — and one that climate change is intensifying.
Recent research shows high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is disrupting plants’ internal chemistry and reducing the nutritional value of crops worldwide. Changing weather patterns are also decreasing farmers’ crop yields. In a largely rural country like Tanzania, where the main source of income is agriculture, that doesn’t only mean less food, but less money in the population’s pockets, driving yet more people to cheaper and less nutritious food.
But there is reason for optimism. There are now 800 dosifiers in Tanzania, reaching more than 4 million people with fortified flour daily; Sanku expects to hit the 1,000 dosifier milestone next year. And Brooks-church is receiving encouraging feedback from the communities the machine serves.
listen
planet visionaries podcast:
season 2, episode 8
Hear Felix Brooks-church in conversation with “Free Solo” star Alex Honnold. Honnold hosts this podcast series, which explores the extraordinary work of pioneers who are safeguarding our planet for future generations.
A worker pours maize into a dosifier, where it will be enriched with life-saving nutrients.
a bold goal
Malnutrition doesn’t only impact a child’s physical and cognitive development. It stunts the growth of developing nations, too. “There are huge implications when you talk about an entire generation being malnourished, and what opportunities are lost to a country,” Brooks-church said.
Malnutrition is a global problem — the UN estimates more than 2 billion people around the world are food insecure — and one that climate change is intensifying.
Recent research shows high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is disrupting plants’ internal chemistry and reducing the nutritional value of crops worldwide. Changing weather patterns are also decreasing farmers’ crop yields. In a largely rural country like Tanzania, where the main source of income is agriculture, that doesn’t only mean less food, but less money in the population’s pockets, driving yet more people to cheaper and less nutritious food.
But there is reason for optimism. There are now 800 dosifiers in Tanzania, reaching more than 4 million people with fortified flour daily; Sanku expects to hit the 1,000 dosifier milestone next year. And Brooks-church is receiving encouraging feedback from the communities the machine serves.
listen
planet visionaries podcast:
season 2, episode 8
Hear Felix Brooks-church in conversation with “Free Solo” star Alex Honnold. Honnold hosts this podcast series, which explores the extraordinary work of pioneers who are safeguarding our planet for future generations.
A worker pours maize into a dosifier, where it will be enriched with life-saving nutrients.
“We have a lot of interaction with the communities we work in, and they tell us their children are having fewer colds, they’re getting sick less often. That’s an indication of a stronger immune system. And that’s where it all starts.”
And, Brooks-church acknowledges, this really is only the start. “I’m obsessed with scale, because this is a two-billion-person problem,” he said. His hope is that Sanku can double the number of people they reach with fortified flour year-on-year. But the ultimate goal?
MICRONUTRIENT:
VITAMIN DVitamin D is crucial for neurodevelopment and is instrumental in helping the body absorb calcium. Deficiency can cause bone softening and teeth problems.
“I would love to be out of a job,” Brooks-church said. “The vision is that fortification is standardized around the world, everyone does it, and everyone does it accurately. And because of that, you don’t have hundreds of children dying of malnutrition daily.” (UNICEF reports that 312 children aged under five die of malnutrition-related diseases every day in Tanzania alone.)
Until then, Brooks-church is focused on a 10-year goal of reaching 100 million people with fortified flour across East Africa. “That’s something we can definitely achieve,” he said. “And that’s a horizon I think about every single day.”
MICRONUTRIENT:
VITAMIN DVitamin D is crucial for neurodevelopment and is instrumental in helping the body absorb calcium. Deficiency can cause bone softening and teeth problems.
“We have a lot of interaction with the communities we work in, and they tell us their children are having fewer colds, they’re getting sick less often. That’s an indication of a stronger immune system. And that’s where it all starts.”
And, Brooks-church acknowledges, this really is only the start. “I’m obsessed with scale, because this is a two-billion-person problem,” he said. His hope is that Sanku can double the number of people they reach with fortified flour year-on-year. But the ultimate goal?
“I would love to be out of a job,” Brooks-church said. “The vision is that fortification is standardized around the world, everyone does it, and everyone does it accurately. And because of that, you don’t have hundreds of children dying of malnutrition daily.” (UNICEF reports that 312 children aged under five die of malnutrition-related diseases every day in Tanzania alone.)
Until then, Brooks-church is focused on a 10-year goal of reaching 100 million people with fortified flour across East Africa. “That’s something we can definitely achieve,” he said. “And that’s a horizon I think about every single day.”