I want to save children around the world who are suffering from malnutrition.
The "Euglena GENKI Program" (hereinafter referred to as the GENKI Program), which started in 2014 to realize the wishes from the time of its founding, has so far provided approximately 6.9 million meals of Euglena cookies to Bangladeshi children. It was delivered to (as of the end of December 2018). And in 2017, Euglena (Euglena) cookies were distributed at the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Save the earth with many supporters as a company. Euglena continues to work on such "social good (business)". What is happening at the scene? We asked Mitsuru Izumo, President and CEO.
At the "GENKI Program" and "mostly unspeakable" refugee camps
―The "GENKI Program" has entered its sixth year and has steadily built up a track record. How do you feel about the current response?
Izumo: As part of the "GENKI Program," Euglena cookies for 10,000 people every day at elementary schools in Bangladesh, and since April 2014, when we started distributing them, we have delivered a total of about 6.9 million meals. , I think it's still "still".
Bangladesh is positioned as the poorest country in the world, with a population of over 160 million, and since last year, about 850,000 Rohingya refugees have been evacuated from neighboring Myanmar. How hard this is.
Meanwhile, two years ago, my colleagues suggested that I would like to deliver Euglena Therefore, we asked a local factory in Bangladesh to increase the production of about 20,000 pieces a day, took about a month to prepare, and actually delivered 200,000 meals to the Rohingya refugee camp at the end of 2017. rice field.
-How was the reaction at the refugee camp?
Izumo: That's hard to express in one word.
From the dark of the morning, many people are waiting in line, including adults, grandpas and grandmas, and elementary school girls carrying small children. We have 200,000 meals, so we don't have enough for everyone. I was still wondering if the recipient would be happy.
"Thank you" is "Don Novard" in Bengali. About 1 in 10 people told us that, but most of them didn't even speak.
I understand that very well. Everyone is crazy. Some people lined up from 5am and finally received it near 15:00. Not only do you have to bring it back to your tent, but you also have to protect it from being stolen by anyone. That's the situation.
Even if you deliver 200,000 meals, you may be told, "Isn't there enough? It doesn't make sense to deliver 850,000 meals." But at the scene, there is a lack of nutrition anyway. There is no end to arguing about it, and nothing will start unless someone delivers something.
It can't be helped even if you think about it, so let's act first
-Such a scene ... You may not be able to imagine it unless you actually go to the site.
Izumo: When I talk about this, many people say, "I'm sorry I've never been there."
But I'm sorry for this reaction. You don't have to blame yourself. The "GENKI Program" is also involved, but I don't think it matters what scale we are doing. Are you doing your best in each field? There are many people working on things I don't know. The importance of what kind of activity to focus on will vary from person to person.
-However, spending a month increasing the production of cookies and delivering 200,000 meals to refugees does not seem easy to act as a business. Why do you think such a voice came from within the company and was able to actually proceed?
Izumo: I think the premise of that question is that it is very difficult to provide food assistance to Rohingya refugee camps.
I myself didn't know where the Rohingya refugee camp was, how many groups there were, and I didn't know if it was okay to deliver Euglena
However, since I am doing a "GENKI program" in the capital city of Dhaka, I thought that I could go to a refugee camp and hand it over. It can't be helped even if I think about it, so I'll try to act first.
There are many points that seem to be difficult.
For example, cookies are carried by 2t trucks, but Bangladesh is a river country with many low-lying areas. I wonder if there is a place where trucks can cross while there are many places where the bridge is washed away and left as it is. When I went, the truck driver managed to deliver the road conditions to the last minute, detouring around here and there.
If you pick up the difficulty, there is no end. But once you have a specific goal, you will start thinking about how to do it. You can get information that there is a route that only locals know, bypassing the bridge.
There are many positive friends who have a good motive and want to try it. That's everything.
～ Continue to the second part ～
Sentence: Shinsuke Tada
President of Euglena Co., Ltd.
Mitsuru Izumo
Joined Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in 2002 after graduating from Komaba Toho Junior and Senior High School and Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo. Euglena Co., Ltd. in 2005 and became president. In December of the same year, we succeeded in mass-culturing edible outdoor mass of the Euglena
Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (Davos Conference) won the 1st Japan Venture Award "Prime Minister's Award" (2015). In his book, "I decided to save the world with Euglena. (Shogakukan Shinshosha).