Domestic Production of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for Improved Nutrition

Life expectancy at birth in Uganda is approximately 58.46 years in 2014. The infant mortality rate under the age of 5 is about 55 deaths per 1,000 children. Low-quality health facilities and the distance to health services is one of the major problems in Uganda. About 38% of children less than five years of age are stunted, nearly 16% of them are underweight, and 8.1% suffer from moderate and severe malnutrition. Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is a nutritional paste that is made from a recipe of peanuts, powdered milk, vegetable oil, sugar, vitamins and mineral mix (Wagh and Deore, 2015). It contains a therapeutic mix of nutrients to treat a child with Severe Acute Malnutrition SAM. The aim of this study, therefore, is to appraise a project aimed at promoting the domestic production of RUTF in Uganda. The appraisal will involve financial, economic, stakeholder and risk analysis of the proposed project. Keywords: Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food, Severe Acute Malnutrition, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Financial Analysis, Uganda, Economic Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, Distributive Analysis.