For-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, and governments can all play unique and valuable roles in society. However there are certain challenges that are best addressed by cooperative ventures involving all three sectors. I recently learned about one such three-way partnership that is focused on a critical category of malnutrition.

FAO estimates that 805 million people in the world today are chronically undernourished – that’s about one of every nine people without enough food. While that form of hunger is tragic, even more people (around two billion) suffer from malnutrition because, while they have food, their typical supply does not have enough of the vitamins or minerals necessary for proper development and health. There is an organization called the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, or GAIN, which has been pursuing strategies to change that situation by finding ways to fortify the foods that are available to poor people around the world.

GAIN recently made a presentation about their progress at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. I had the opportunity to interview Marc Van Ameringen, the Executive Director of GAIN. He described what they have been doing, what has worked, and the remaining challenges. Their track record of success is very encouraging and was a refreshing story about good things concerning food.