Improving the nutritional status of children via the strengthening of local production systems

Chronic malnutrition: one of the top health issues in Bolivia

Chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years of age continues to be one of the top health challenges not yet resolved in Bolivia. One out of 3 children under the age of 5 suffers from chronic malnutrition. 6 out of 10 children between 6 months to 5 years of age suffer from anemia, the most prevalent condition associated with chronic malnutrition.

Undernutrition is caused by a variety of factors derived from living in poverty. Diet habits, childcare, education, access to healthcare, and water and sanitation require integrated responses. The goverment is developing several strategies to change this situation.

The programme

The SDG Fund is supporting 4 municipalities to provide integrated approaches to food security. It targets children 2 to 5 years of age by increasing the livelihood opportunities of fruit producers in 4 municipalities. These pilot programmes are expected to feed into national policies and will be scaled up. 

The approach

The programme aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Production systems based on fruits, vegetables and small ruminants integrate native crops of high nutritional value
• Food Nutrition Education integrates and adds value to local food production and cultural traditions of food nutrition
• Strengthening of multi-sectorial coordination