A view of the conference. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Reducing food shortagesand malnutrition in the northern provinces of Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Ha Giang isthe main goal of a project sponsored by the International Development ResearchCentre (IDRC) of Canada.
The project has been carried out in the threelocalities from November 2015 to June 2018, heard a conference in Hanoi on June18.
A representative from the National Institute ofNutrition under the Ministry of Health said the project aims to build a supplychain meeting the standards of the institute to address food safety barriersfor the target populations, especially mothers and children, in the aforesaidprovinces.
After nearly three years of implementation, theproject has built a system of 13 consulting desks on child raising in thelocalities, opened training courses on safe agricultural practices for needywomen and provided online courses on food security.
Over 1,600 children under two years old in ninecommunes along with more than 2,500 children in 10 kindergartens and poor womenwith children have benefited from the project.
The ratio of underweight children has decreasedremarkably from 17.2 percent to 13.9 percent while that of wasted ones hasdropped from 7.6 percent to 3.4 percent.
According to the National Institute ofNutrition, besides the aforesaid outcomes, the implementation of the projectstill meets some challenges in approaching public-private partnership onnutrition.
It remains difficult to access to areas whereethnic minority people inhabit and provide safe materials for food workshops.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recentlyissued a National Action Programme on Zero Hunger, aiming to ensure enough foodand nutrition for all citizens.
The programme is part of the United NationsSustainable Development Goal No 2 which focuses on sustainable solutions toeradicate hunger in all its forms by 2030 and to achieve food security.
The programme prioritises the reduction ofmalnutrition among children under two by 2025.
More specifically, a target has been set toreduce the ratio of children under two who are a low height for their age(stunted) to less than 20 percent across most of the country, and 25 percentfor children in mountainous areas in the northern and Central Highland regions.
The target for children under two who are a lowweight for their height or a low weight for their age has been set at below 5percent.-VNA
VNA
