Village of Peace helps Afghans rebuild their country. We first focus on food security: the certainty that you have something to eat the next day. After all, you can’t build on an empty stomach.

The best way to fight malnutrition is with sustainable, local solutions -not temporary, imported emergency aid. This includes local initiatives, set up by and under the responsibility of the Afghans themselves. Village of Peace helps to get these initiatives off the ground. We call that locally grown health.

With the factory in Mazar-e Sharif, the Afghans will soon be making peanut butter themselves. Directly where there is malnutrition. This is cheaper, more sustainable and puts the Afghans back in control. We can help 16,000 children in a malnourished situation over the next ten years with the peanut paste factory.
Locally grown health!

Will you help us raise the necessary amount to start this peanut butter factory?

 

Our approach

Ingredients

Because milk powder is poorly
available and should also be
imported (which is also the
most expensive ingredient), we
use soybeans.
We make the flour ourselves
with locally grown soybeans.
We already have the machines
needed for this. Although
soybeans contain slightly
fewer nutrients than cow’s
milk powder, the difference
is negligible in the complex
malnutrition problem in
Afghanistan.

The plan and implementation
are supervised by an expert (who has previously successfully set up a peanut
paste factory in Africa). He has been closely involved in our design and production process and can advise us very well in process design, machine maintenance and all regulations regarding hygiene,
health and safety standards.
One of our Afghan managers
has a degree as a Food Scientist.

Partnerships

After the factory is up and running, we will partner with
local NGOs. In exchange for
free products, they help us
collect test data and feedback. An additional advantage is that through this collaboration the partners will get to know the product well and will experience that the soy-based peanut paste is just as good as the imported milk powder alternative.

Price

The sale price will be slightly cheaper than that one
from Nutricents Plumpy’nut
and other international peanut
butters. The cheaper price
will be used as a conscious
selling point towards future
customers. Incidentally, the
peanut butter itself is always
distributed free of charge by
the organizations.

Customers
The primary target group is domestic and foreign NGOs that are active in Afghanistan and that for the time being purchase their peanut butter from large organizations such as the United Nations or Unicef. The goal is to sell 80 percent of our products to these local NGOs. The remaining 20 percent is intended for distribution within our own organization.

Place
The factory will be in Mazar-e Sharif. This region is easily accessible and relatively safe due to the absence of the Taliban and the presence of an important local army base. In addition, the region of Mazar-e Sharif is known for its agricultural activity.

 
 

Objective

After six years, the factory will produce 30,000 kilos of peanut butter per year.
With this amount, the Afghans can help 863 children in one year replenish their
shortage of nutrients and energy. A child needs 3 sachets a day for 6 weeks. So a total of 126 bags per child.

In the period of ten years we can help 16,326 children.

We are committed to see as many healthy children as possible in Afghanistan, where currently 1 in 2 children under the age of 5 are in a situation of malnutrition. A common goal within the Village of Peace organizations that we want to commit ourselves to.

 

Why Village of Peace?

We expressly do not concern ourselves with short-term aid from abroad, rather placing the responsibility for change with the Afghans themselves.

We train and coach the local communities to be able to tackle their own problems. A change in thinking, doing and ownership is central to them doing so.
Working exclusively with Afghans, we intentionally keep our main Dutch office as small as possible.
Our network of Afghan professionals is reliable, both inside and outside the country. The network enables us to operate in a culturally and politically sensitive manner. Our projects and social enterprises are all led by passionate Afghan managers, who are committed to doing an emotionally sound job.
  

Combat malnutrition!

Invest to start the peanut butter factory in Afghanistan with which we can directly combat malnutrition and work towards locally grown health.