2021 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Agriculture / Food Security

Problem #9: Due to its seasonal production, and its short lifespan, breadfruit is not always available on the market and cannot be distributed in remote and vulnerable regions when and where it is most needed to tackle chronic acute malnutrition among children living in rural areas in Haiti.

Country/Region of execution:  Haiti
Collaborating Organization: World Concern Development Organization
WCDO was established in 1981 as a supporting organization to World Concern, an international relief and development agency founded in 1955. WCDO focuses on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable within society, providing capacity-building for partners, while having the flexibility to respond to disasters through relief and rehabilitation assistance. Currently World Concern is implementing roughly $30 million in programming in its 10 country offices located throughout Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Since 1991, WCDO has received, implemented and administered grants in excess of $59 million from USAID. WCDO headquarters is based in Seattle, WA, and the Haiti country office is located in Port au Prince.
Problem Statement Description:  Haiti has a global acute malnutrition rate of 6%, according to the last SMART nutritional survey carried out. Haiti’s severe acute malnutrition stands at 2.1%, exceeding the emergency threshold of 2% set by the World Health Organization (WHO), while chronic malnutrition is numbered at 22.7%. The achievement of the Objective #2 of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, "eliminate hunger, ensure food security, improve nutrition and promote agriculture" imperatively passes through the valuation of nutritious products for all groups, especially for children suffering from malnutrition. World Concern has been supporting malnourished children with food vouchers to help them improve their emergency nutrition status. Chronic food insecurity in Haiti affects more than 4.1 million Haitians. In this logic, the valorization of crops with high nutritional value, such as breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), helps improve food security and reduce hunger in the country. In Haiti, breadfruit is the third most abundant fruit produced in the country after mango and oranges. This fruit is a rich source of fiber, complex carbohydrates, potassium, protein, lipids, mineral, and vitamins, especially vitamin C (48% of RDA). Previous studies conducted on the breadfruit flour has confirmed its superiority over wheat flour and have demonstrated how breadfruit-based diets promote higher growth rate and body weight in mice. Because of its high nutritional value and its profusion in the country, this fruit could be considered as a good candidate to help reduce malnutrition in children under 5 in the country. However, due to its seasonal production, and its short lifespan, the fruit is not always available on the market and cannot be distributed in remote and vulnerable regions where it is most needed. To solve this issue, WCDO Haiti proposes to give an added value to the fruit by transforming it into flour with a long shelf life. This value addition will increase the availability of breadfruit product throughout the year and increase the profit to producers thus contributing positively to the local economy. This new product would be distributed to vulnerable families to ensure that their children have a nourishing dish to eat.