NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — Edesia Nutrition, a North Kingstown-based nonprofit, has laid off 10% of its workforce due to a lack of government funding.

Navyn Salem, founder and CEO of Edesia Nutrition, told 12 News her nonprofit heavily relies on monthly payments from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Edesia, which makes and globally distributes a fortified peanut paste designed to combat severe malnutrition, hasn't received federal funding since the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) first targeted USAID.

"We haven't been paid since last year for work that was contracted out," Salem explained. "Our [production] lines are very quiet right now. We've had to slow down in order to conserve cash while we wait."

Salem said this was the first staff reduction she's had to make in the history of her nonprofit.

"It was honestly the worst day of my life so far," she said, adding that most of the employees she laid off had worked alongside her for more than 10 years. "

Edesia's North Kingstown warehouse typically ships out 10,000 boxes of the Plumpy'Nut peanut paste every single day, according to Salem.

"When I travel around the world and I see boxes of life-saving food from Rhode Island, I am extremely proud of that," Salem said.

But ever since the disruption in federal funding, she has been forced to slash Edesia's daily production of the life-saving product by more than half.

"Every hour that this line is not running, which none of our lines for USAID are running right now, is 415 lives per hour that we are not making product for," Salem said. "This is very important, the timeliness of it all."

"We can't afford to lose those lives on our watch," she continued.

Salem said one-third of Edesia's output goes directly toward USAID missions. That's why she said the lack of funding for her nonprofit, which has provided more than 25 million children with Plumpy'Nut since launching in 2010, is dire.

"We ship to 65 countries, and on every packet of Plumpy'Nut that we send, it says 'from the American people,'" Salem explained. "Now, if you are a family who has a young child on the brink of death, and it was the American people that came forward and saved their life, do you think you would ever forget that?"

Salem believes the federal government should take a closer look at the eight-week food treatment her nonprofit makes and consider it a worthwhile investment.

Though Edesia relies on federal funding, it also benefits from generous donors. Anyone interested in donating to Edesia can do so online or by mail.

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