A South Georgia-based company opened up new parts of their factory on Friday, and is now able to produce millions of packets a day of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to prevent and treat [.fow1-3]malnutrition[.fow1-3].

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $200 million program to buy and [.fow1-4]distribute[.fow1-4] RUTF produced by MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald. USIA Administrator Samantha Power was on hand for the ceremony.

“This U.S. government [money for] RUTF … can save millions of... children in our global village — and it will [allow] MANA to use the strength of our village in Georgia, which proudly [has] the [workers] and key ingredients required to produce RUTF,” said Mark Moore, MANA’s founder and CEO.

[.fow1-3]Malnutrition[.fow1-3] kills 1 in 5 children under the age of 5. But the disease is treatable with RUTF, a [.fow2-1]shelf-stable[.fow2-1] product made from peanuts, milk powder, oil, sugar, and a mix of [.fow1-1]nutrients[.fow1-1]. It costs less than $1 a day to treat a child with RUTF, and it’s very effective, with a success rate of 90%.

MANA Nutrition, a [.fow2-2]nonprofit[.fow2-2], currently produces 3 million packets of RUTF each day. The new factory opens after two years of planning, engineering, and building.

The packets it produces will be [.fow1-4]distributed[.fow1-4] through UNICEF and the UN World Food Program to people in Sudan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, and other areas where hunger is a problem. The new program will build on USAID’s continuing nutrition support efforts in places like Gaza and Ethiopia.

Others attending Friday’s ceremony included U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton; Amy Towers, MANA’s board chair; and British businessman Sir Chris Hohn, who announced he’s making a $50 million investment in the company’s operation.