Demonstrated best practices of the Agriculture for Nutrition project, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in cooperation with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) led to the launch of phase two of the project on Sep 7. Demonstrated best practices of the Agriculture for Nutrition project, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in cooperation with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) led to the launch of phase two of the project on Sep 7.
The Agriculture for Nutrition II project continues to address poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition among the rural population, especially vulnerable groups such as women, young people and people with disabilities, and scales the intervention across new geographic areas of the country.
“AFN II is a project that is contributing to the implementation of the food security and nutrition programme, the rural development and poverty reduction programme of the agriculture and forestry sector, as well as the National Nutrition Strategy to 2025 and the National Nutrition Action Plan 2021-2025 of the Lao Government,” said Mr. Thongphat Vongmany, Deputy-Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
The project builds on the success and lessons learned from the first phase, implemented between 2016 and 2022 in 400 villages of northern Laos. It showed how promoting small- and medium-scale agricultural development, including through home gardens, has led to better nutrition, with a decline in stunting and higher incomes reported across project areas. Awareness raising on health and nutrition and the development of village nutrition plans have helped make diets more diverse, leading to the reduction of malnutrition in the longer term. Sustainable climate-resilient agriculture practices and strong community-based organizations that worked in their members’ interests led to increased production and higher incomes for rural families.
The new phase will scale-up activities in three provinces of existing activities, namely Oudomxay, Phongsaly and Xiengkhouang, while adding the three southern provinces of Salavan, Sekong and Attapeu, reaching 168,000 people across 28,000 households. Through its activities, the project will help vulnerable rural communities navigate in the current difficult environment of rising prices for food and agricultural inputs, while supporting a bottoms-up approach of community-led development.
“Most of Lao PDR’s farmers – the people who grow the country’s food – are small-scale producers practicing subsistence, family-focused agriculture,” said Ambrosio Barros, IFAD Country Director, the Lao PDR.
“They have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. That’s why AFN II focuses on the role of small-scale farmers in improving household nutrition and food security through sustainable agriculture.”
“The AFN project sits squarely in WFP’s strategy to support the Government of the Lao PDR combating malnutrition and food insecurity, with a specific focus on women. Phase two of the project builds on the successes and lessons learned from the first phase, confirming effective addressing under-nutrition is through integrated agriculture and nutrition behavior change communication,” said Marc-Andre Prost, WFP Country Director and Representative
Source: Lao News Agency
