Japan helps nourish Lao children

The Japanese government has donated canned fish and rice worth 27 billion kip (US$3.2 million) towards the World Food Programme’s (WFP) school meals and resilience building projects in Laos.
The assistance is specifically designed to help communities cope with disasters and incidents that impact food supplies.

The Japanese Ambassador to Laos, Takeshi Hikihara, made the donation official at a ceremony held in Vientiane last week. Ambassador Hikihara said “Japan will work with the Lao government and the international community to support the building of resilience in local communities and to help children grow and develop properly with nutritious school meals.”
“Together, we will help Laos eradicate hunger and take positive steps to promote its social and economic development.”
WFP Country Director and Representative, Jan Delbaere, said “Our technical input to help the government address food insecurity and malnutrition among children is just one side of the coin.”
“We are extremely thankful that we can rely on donors, such as the Japanese government, in this endeavour. This generous, in-kind contribution has made a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children and their families in the areas of nutrition, education and their ability to withstand the consequences of climate change,” Mr Delbaere added.
According to WFP, most of the 425 metric tons of donated canned fish will be used to provide school lunches for the 100,000 children who live in rural parts of the country.
These children often eat a staple diet of rice or lentils with greens or vegetables added that have been sourced from village gardens or nearby woodland.
17 metric tons will be distributed to 5,700 villagers who were affected by the 2018 flood in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province. Another 205 metric tons of rice will help 40 vulnerable communities to establish functioning ‘rice banks’ in Xekong and Attapeu provinces. These rice banks will allow 20,000 villagers to borrow rice during the lean season and to cope with food shortages. It is thought that the rice banks will enhance the resilience of communities in withstanding the impacts of climate change.
In partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Lux Development, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos, WFP has helped develop 60 community rice banks since 2016. Japan is a long-term supporter of the WFP in Laos. Since 2014, the Japanese government has donated food supplies worth US$11 million.

ByTimes Reporters
(Latest Update June 10, 2019)