The Challenge
Micronutrient deficiency is a lack of essential vitamins and minerals such as zinc required in small amounts by the body for healthy growth and development. Today, one in four of the world’s children are malnourished, which increases the risk of stunted growth and impaired development that has devastating long-term effects.

The Solution
Micronutrient powders are single-dose packets of zinc and other vitamins and minerals in powder form that can be sprinkled onto any ready-to-eat semi-solid food. The powder is used to increase the micronutrient content in a child’s diet without changing their usual dietary habits to ensure they receive enough vital nutrients for healthy development.

Teck's Involvement
Teck led the creation of Zinc Saves Kids in 2009, an initiative of the International Zinc Association (IZA), to improve the survival, growth and development of undernourished children with micronutrient deficiencies by funding UNICEF’s zinc supplementation programs in Nepal and Peru.

Prior to the launch of Zinc Saves Kids, malnutrition was a major public health issue in both Nepal and Peru. Today, UNICEF is reporting substantial progress in both countries in improving child health.

Since the program was formed in 2009, 600,000 children in Nepal and Peru under the age of three have received micronutrient powder containing zinc to improve nutrition and reduce the risk of stunted growth. More than 85,000 mothers and caregivers have been trained about the benefits of zinc through 4,200 mothers’ groups. And finally, following advocacy by UNICEF, US$8.5 million was committed by the Government of Peru in 2013 for the purchase of micronutrient powder to treat an additional 720,000 children nationwide.

The Challenge
Zinc deficiency affects more than half of the world’s agricultural soils. It has a significant impact on crop productivity and may contribute to zinc deficiency among humans. The link between zinc-deficient soils and zinc deficiency in humans is especially prevalent in developing countries that rely on cereal grains as the main source of dietary intake.

The Solution
Adding zinc to fertilizers has been demonstrated to increase crop yield, food security and nutritional quality by ensuring that crops have an adequate supply of zinc. When this is achieved, overall health and socio-economic conditions in many developing countries can be improved drastically.

Teck's Involvement
Since 2012, Teck has partnered with the International Zinc Association and the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture of China (NATESC) to expand the use of zinc fertilizers. The main objective of the project is to educate farmers about the benefits of zinc fertilizer and to encourage fertilizer producers to develop zinc fertilizer products to meet the growing demands of China’s agricultural production.

To date, the project has carried out more than 120 field trials in China as well as promotional and education programs, including national workshops and training courses for farmers. Crop trial research has found that zinc fertilizer increases crop yield up to 20 per cent and the nutritional content of the grains by up to 40 per cent.

In January 2019, Teck announced a partnership with the World Food Programme to improve the health and economic opportunities of small-scale farmers in China’s Gansu Province. The program seeks to reduce zinc deficiency and improve the quality of farmers’ potato crops by providing zinc-enriched fertilizer, training and support in innovative agricultural practices.

For the pilot program, WFP will work with the Chinese government to reach 10,000 farmers over a three-year period to improve their crops and economic opportunities as well as the nutrition of about 30,000 people expected to purchase potatoes in local markets. Gansu Province was chosen for the project because nearly 80 percent of its arable land is deficient in zinc.

The Challenge
More than 200,000 children are at risk of dying each year due to zinc deficiency, and a further 1.2 billion people around the world suffer from zinc deficiency-related disorders, such as diarrhea, stunted growth and neurological deficits. Unfortunately, the condition and solutions remain relatively unknown to the general public.

The Solution
Since 2011, Teck has partnered with WE, the world’s largest organization of children helping children, to raise awareness about zinc deficiency. More than 314,000 students have learned about Zinc & Health at WE Day, WE’s annual youth empowerment event. Teck has Zinc Captains at 17 locations to educate employees and the general public about the importance of zinc for human health.

Teck also supports a number of organizations who focus on government advocacy and raising awareness about child health interventions, including the UN’s Diarrhea and Pneumonia Working Group, the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the UN Foundation’s Every Woman, Every Child movement.

Teck's Involvement
Teck has held three innovative awareness campaigns at WE Day events since 2011, including:

Zinc Saves Lives Battery Recycling Campaign
This campaign encourages students to recycle used batteries at WE Day or any Call2Recycle location across Canada to divert electronic waste from landfills and help save a child’s life. Every AA battery contains the equivalent amount of zinc that can save the lives of six children. For every battery recycled until August 2016, Teck donated the value of zinc recycled to UNICEF in support of our Zinc & Health partnership in India. To date, more than 2.2 million batteries have been recycled as a result of the campaign. Today, for every battery recycled Teck will donate the cash value of the zinc it contains to WE, in support of WE’s zinc and health programs in Kenya.

Send One, Save One E-Postcard Campaign
Our Send One, Save One e-postcard campaign gave participants the opportunity to help save a child’s life while raising awareness about zinc deficiency. For every e-postcard sent, Teck donated $0.50 to UNICEF – the cost of a life-saving zinc treatment. By the end of the campaign, 3,240 e-postcards had been sent to recipients in 102 countries around the world.

One Tweet, One Life Twitter Campaign
Our One Tweet, One Life Twitter campaign harnessed the power of social media to raise awareness about zinc deficiency around the world. For each retweet of our WE Day message on Twitter, Teck donated $0.50 to Zinc Saves Kids. The campaign reached more than 5 million Twitter users and received 22,640 retweets. Its hashtag, #1tweet1life, was a trending topic in Canada, which means it was among the most popular topics on Twitter on the day of the event.

The Challenge
The World Health Organization has recognized that there are more than 1.2 billion people worldwide who suffer from a variety of micronutrient deficiencies including zinc deficiency. Micronutrients such as zinc are only needed in small amounts, but are critical, especially in the first five years of life, to a child’s healthy development.
 
The Solution
Fortifying staple foods, such as flour, rice or milk, with zinc is a highly cost-effective measure for reducing widespread micronutrient deficits.
 
Teck's Involvement
In 2012, Teck partnered with the chemical company BASF to jointly develop affordable zinc fortification solutions, with the goal of reducing zinc deficiency in developing countries. Zinc from Teck’s operation in British Columbia was turned into high-grade zinc oxide by GH Chemicals in Montreal, which BASF uses to make food fortification supplements for flour and rice products. To date, the Teck and BASF partnership has provided some 100 million people with access to zinc-fortified staple foods to improve nutrition.
 
Teck also supports a World Food Programme rice fortification pilot project in Odisha India, where 65% of children suffer from zinc deficiency. For the duration of the project, more than 129,000 children currently receive a fortified mid-deal meal every day at school. The WFP project aims to improve the nutrition and performance of school-age children while also building capacity of local rice millers to increase the availability of fortified rice.