Skip to main content

Nine projects totaling $2.9 million committed in March

Countries
Bangladesh
+ 7 more
Sources
Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Publication date

Includes different kinds of nutritional support and assistance in Bangladesh, Nepal and Haiti

Over 67,000 people in eight countries will benefit from nine projects totaling $2.9 million committed by Canadian Foodgrains Bank in March.

The projects are being implemented by Foodgrains Bank members Canadian Baptist Ministries, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, Development and Peace-Caritas Canada, Emergency Relief and Development Overseas, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Presbyterian World Service & Development, World Renew, in collaboration with their local partners.

Three of the projects have a particular focus on improving nutrition for mothers and young children. They have a combined total of just under $1 million, and are together helping over 20,00 people.

In northern Bangladesh, Emergency Relief and Development Overseas is providing specially-fortified high energy biscuits to children under the age of five. Many poor families in these areas do not own land, and are unable to grow their own crops or raise their own livestock. Trapped in a cycle of poverty, malnutrition among young children is high. The biscuits help the children get the nutrition their growing bodies need.

Through the project, implemented through the Pentecostal Assemblies of Bangladesh, mothers of young children and local health workers are also receiving nutrition support and training.

In nearby Nepal, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, through the Rural Institution for Community Development, is improving the nutritional status of rural women in Lalitpur. Child growth is being monitored, and the rural health system is also being strengthened. Kitchen garden training and savings and loan programs are also being promoted, as Lalitpur's remote location makes it difficult for women to access markets and health services, and many families farm on marginal land.

In Haiti, Presbyterian World Service & Development is working alongside Partners in Health Haiti in responding to malnutrition in young children through mobile nutrition clinics. Community health workers are responsible for identifying and treating children under the age of five suffering from severe and moderate malnutrition.

Affected children are provided with Nourimamba, a specially-fortified peanut paste to help them gain weight. Mothers are also supported in using good breastfeeding practices and provided with nutrition education.

All projects committed in March:

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Ethiopia through Development and Peace-Caritas Canada, totaling $305,000 and benefitting 8,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Iraq through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $315,000 and benefitting 3,800 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Mozambique through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $297,000 and benefitting 7,000 people.

  • A food assistance project in Madagascar through World Renew, totaling $491,000 and benefitting 6,700 people.

  • A food assistance and agriculture and livelihoods project in Iraq through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $448,000 and benefitting 3,600 people.

  • A food assistance project in Ethiopia through Canadian Lutheran World Relief, totaling $466,000 and benefitting 13,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Rwanda through Canadian Baptist Ministries, totaling $123,000 and benefitting 8,000 people.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank programs are undertaken with support from the Government of Canada.

--Amanda Thorsteinsson, Communications Coordinator

Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 churches and church agencies working together to end hunger. In the 2017-18 budget year, the Foodgrains Bank provided over $40 million of assistance for over 800,000 people in 36 countries. Canadian Foodgrains Bank programs are undertaken with support from the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada. Assistance from the Foodgrains Bank is provided through its member agencies, which work with local partners in the developing world.