The director of a company producing ready-to-use therapeutic foods, or RUTFs, said of the company's new partnerships in the wake of U.S. aid cuts: “This is a coalition that never existed before, and we are trying to do this in 18 different countries. Again, the theme is always the same: Children can’t wait. So, it’s up to us to find ways and solutions that can make it possible to get these life-saving products to them as soon as possible.”
Date: 9/25
Region: Global
Country: Global
Topic: Food & Farming
Policy Lens: Moral Leadership
Entry Type: Field Observation
Additional Context: A Rhode Island maker of a lifesaving paste for malnourished children was forced to innovate to ensure products reach children who need them while contracts stalled, reports Tania Karas from a Devex event on the sidelines of the 80th U.N. General Assembly.
This quote is attributed to Navyn Salem, the CEO of Edesia, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit producer of lifesaving foods for malnourished children, including RUTFs. As of September 2025, the organization had 185,535 boxes of its products sitting in its warehouse for months waiting to get clearance from the Trump administration to ship to countries that need them.
Source: Devex