AGRICULTURE FOR NUTRITION (AFN) PROJECT 

Dietary diversity is a big problem in Northern Laos. Many rural families regularly consume only 4 out of 10 major food groups, with rice often forming the majority of the meal. Despite eating local, leafy vegetables themselves, mothers rarely feed these to their young children, leading to high levels of stunting as well as micronutrient deficiencies. As such, AFN, a 38.8 million USD project mostly funded by GAFSP, seeks to tackle malnutrition and rural poverty by providing nutrition education coupled with agricultural training to improve and diversify food production for household consumption, as well as creating stronger market linkages so that families can earn extra income

AFN IN A NUTSHELL 2016 – 2022 

KEY ACTIVITIES
1. Participatory Village Development and Infrastructure Planning to build better roads, irrigation and community markets 
2. Farmer Nutrition Schools for pregnant women and mothers with children under 2 
3. Garden grants (120 USD) to support homegardens and livestock for household consumption 
4. Establishment of Agricultural Production Groups who receive grants to raise fish, pigs, poultry, goats or grow vegetables, fodder, cardamom and more 
5. Farmer-to-farmer Extension Activities including demo sites, trainings and peer-to-peer exchange 
6. Training of local service providers such as Village Facilitators and Lead Farmers 
7. Value chains developed through co-investments with lead enterprises

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Source: AGRICULTURE  FOR NUTRITION  (AFN) PROJECT, IFAD