Global nutrition company Royal DSM announced a series of commitments aimed to address social and environmental challenges related to global food supply by 2030, through three initiatives, “Health for People,” “Health for Planet,” and “Healthy Livelihoods.”
 
Through investments in product development, partnerships, and advocacy activities, the company aims to help deliver key changes which can close the micronutrient gap of vulnerable people and support immunity, reduce emissions, provide plant-based proteins, and support the livelihoods of 500,000 smallholder farmers across value chains together with partners.
 
The company’s commitments are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals 2, 3, 12, and 13, and its progress will be documented in an integrated annual report.
 
“The way we produce and consume food as a society contributes to major global challenges, such as climate change, malnutrition, and poverty,” Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, co-CEOs, stated. “To solve this, we need to collectively rethink our food systems from farm to fork. As a purpose-led, global, science-based leader in health, nutrition, and bio0science, we’ve been playing our part and applied our resources and expertise to create positive change, for instance, through our food fortification and feed solutions for on-farm emission reduction. With today’s ambitious commitments we are taking a next step by making our societal impact explicit and measurable. We look forward to stepping this up, together with our public and private sector partners, to ensure accessible, affordable, healthy nutrition and healthy livelihoods within our planet’s boundaries.”
 
Health for People
 
DSM reports that roughly one-third of people do not have access to adequate nutrition, and it is estimated that 2 billion people suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiency. DSM has committed to helping fill the micronutrient gap of 800 million people by 2030 through fortification of staple foods and health supplements in a cost-effective manner, alongside partners such as the World Food Program, UNICEF, World Vision, and Scaling Up Nutrition.
 
Additionally, the company has committed to supporting the immunity of 500 million people by 2030, by delivering its dietary supplements around the globe.
 
Health for Planet
 
DSM has committed to reducing its emissions by double digits by the year 2030. Specifically, it is committed to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from its dairy production, a 30% reduction in ammonia emissions from swine farming, and a 30% reduction in phosphorous emissions from poultry farming. Additionally, the company can help make a reduction in emissions from farms by changing animal feed – for instance, its feed additive Bovaer could reduce enteric methane emission by approximately 30%.
 
DSM also is committed to reach 150 million people with sustainable, plant-based protein foods by 2030 by accelerating product development, and create better taste, texture, and mouthfeel in plant-based drinks as well as its investment to scale up canola-based protein to use in a wide array of meat and dairy alternatives.
 
Healthy Livelihoods
 
More than 492 million farmers of the 1 billion globally live in extreme poverty, DSM reports. The company has committed to supporting the livelihoods of 500,000 smallholder farmers across value chains by 2030, initially by improving incomes of workers in its own value chains, as well as through joint venture partnerships.
 
DSM will be scaling up its social enterprise model, Africa Improved Foods, a Rwanda-based public-private partnership which produces fortified foods for and with local communities. Today, the program sources a variety of grains from around 130,000 smallholder farms, providing a steady and more secure income and sustainable agriculture training. By expanding this program to additional locations in Sub-Saharan Africa, DSM seeks to quadruple the number of farmers reached and thus contribute to equality, local economic development, and job creation.