Malnutrition is more than being hungry

The first stage of their program is the short term addressing of childhood malnutrition in Laos’ poorest regions in the south of the country. Using donated money, the aim is to provide each child of school age with at least one nutritious meal a day, and one nutritious snack. Just $60 can provide nutrition for one child for a whole month.

At the same time, SEDA is helping villagers to realise long term solutions to poverty and lack of food. Through the innovative use of micro-credit, SEDA will provide farmers with seeds for cash crops, that can be grown quickly, and training in agriculture that will increase crop yields. SEDA is also assisting with irrigation and teaching farmers cutting edge organic farming techniques to address the problems of skill and financial shortages.

The projected increase in food production will help to reduce malnutrition, and surplus crops can be sold at local markets to help generate a small income for farmers.

With financial assistance from international aid institutions, SEDA also plans to provide seedlings for long term, high profit crops, such as grapes, avocados and cherries, which can be sold in urban areas to generate a much higher, sustainable income.

A long term goal

Food insecurity cannot be fixed overnight: it requires long term solutions that not only address the immediate problems, but build capacity within local communities so that they can continue to battle against the causes of malnutrition.

Projects such as SEDA’s will have positive implications long into the future: improved nutrition will contribute to a better education for young people, a more productive adult workforce, and a decline in environmental degradation caused by foraging for food in protected areas.

For Meena and her peers, it can bring hope for a better future, one not defined by poverty, hunger or the struggle to survive.