HIDDEN HUNGER IS EVERYWHERE

The single biggest health challenge today is unequal access to nutrition. 2 billion people - including 1 in 3 children - aren't getting enough micronutrients to reach their full potential and fight disease. 

It shows up in wealthy countries where packaged and fast foods are cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables.  

It happens mostly in poor countries, where the first priority is to get food in bellies, and "nutrition" means meal after meal of processed, white grains and corn. Because even among farming families in the world’s poorest countries, people aren’t growing nutrient-dense foods.  

But developing brains and bodies are hungry for micronutrients. Without real nutrition, children never get a fair chance. They can't thrive and their immunity isn't strong enough to fight infection. In fact, 45% of deaths in children under the age of 5 are related to poor nutrition. 

Hidden hunger keeps people from improving their own lives. It causes kids to miss school. It keeps adults from work when they're chronically ill. And it orphans too many children.  

The diseases caused by hidden hunger cost the poor too much to treat if they have access to healthcare at all. And the burden of disease from hidden hunger keeps the best work of charities from making enough impact. Because nutrition is a basic need and only when it's met can people thrive.

OUR SOLUTION

Until now, a nourishing, whole foods diet has seemed out of reach for the poor. That's because we've come to see food as a cost and healthy food as a luxury. 

But, with knowledge, simple tools, and starter seeds, people who can't afford to buy healthy food can grow their own - almost anywhere in the world. It costs less than 3 cents a day per person to produce nutrient-dense, life-giving foods and proven natural medicines and provide a sustainable source of potential income generation.

Organic Gardening

Nutrition

Natural Medicine

Income Generation

Several organic techniques are used to grow food all year round even in small, barren or dry areas. Everything native that can be used to help rebuild the soil is used. Less water is needed when more organic material is incorporated. Close spacing creates more food per square foot.

Foods are selected that give energy but also build the immune system. Indigenous plants that were grown before mono-cropping are rediscovered. Health is a symphony of different foods. The benefits of greens, beans, cruciferous plants and the onion family are added to common starch staples with cooking herbs for flavour.

Over 50 herbal medicine plants are studied that protect and even treat diseases like malaria. These benefits have been used for centuries and are easily grown in any backyard. This can be life-saving in areas with no medical support. HIV patients can double and even triple their chances of staying alive.

Farming is slowly changing. Higher value, fast-growing organic crops can create better profits for small scale farmers. Building the soil also creates longer growing seasons and healthier plants. Higher prices can be charged by farmers who know and grow plants that protect health.

ABOUT THRIVE

Thrive is a worldwide not-for-profit based in Canada operating out of Kenya putting nutritional security - not just food security - in the hands of the poor so they can improve their lives. 

Thrive empowers the poor to be self-sufficient, starting with nutrition. When people can take health into their own hands, they have new dignity and pride. Nutritional-security also gives them hope for a better future without the constant burden of disease.

Vision & Mission

By 2025, Thrive will empower 1 million people in the developing world to lead healthy and sustainable lives by training them to grow nutritious and income-generating whole foods.

When people have everything they need to grow healthy, disease-fighting foods, they have the foundation for reaching their fullest potential.