Real manna for hungry people

While the policymakers toss billions between Africa's aid and debt ledgers, two French nutrition experts scored a breakthrough in famine relief while sitting at their breakfast tables.

Pediatric nutritionist Andre Briend and Michel Lescanne, chairman of the French food company Nutriset, long dreamed of a high-protein paste that could replace the ubiquitous milk powder that is a problematic mainstay in the world's refugee camps and famine-stricken zones. The powder requires clean water, a scarce commodity in such places, and onsite help from aid workers to properly mix and administer. Other alternatives, like enriched chocolate or other protein bars, were unappetizing or put a strain on young and already compromised digestive systems.