2022 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Agriculture / Food Security

Problem #4:  Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices are Poor, and Low Dietary Diversity Leads to Malnutrition for Both Mothers and Children

Country/Region of execution: Laos
Collaborating Organization: World Concern
World Concern, an international relief and development agency founded in 1955, 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 implements roughly $30 million in programming in its ten 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 Laos country office is located in Pakse City, Champasak Province.
Problem Statement Description: This problem is associated with SDG 3: Ensuring healthy lives and well-being. Lao PDR is off-track on achieving its targets related to child stunting and underweight because the causes have not been adequately addressed. The main issues are the relatively low rates of exclusive breastfeeding under the age of 6 months, the alarming increase in the use of baby formula, and inappropriate complementary feeding. Iron deficiency anemia and vitamin A deficiency are high in young children. Maternal nutrition, a crucial determinant in child stunting, remains poor. High anemia rates, low contraceptive use, and high fertility rates contribute to poor maternal nutrition. High adolescent birth rates among ethnic minorities are another contributor to child stunting. Female education, which strongly influences child nutrition, is still poor. Stunting rates are four times higher among children of uneducated women than among children of mothers with secondary or higher education. World Concern has been investing in improving the maternal-child health of communities that we work with through education campaigns, capacity building of parents and health workers, and provision of nutrition kits. However, maternal and child health issues are still significant. Cultural beliefs and food taboos that may have a negative impact on nutrition also need to be addressed. World Concern proposes to Purdue University to create a home-based maternal-child health training technology that anyone in the household, even with a low literacy rate, can understand and comprehend basic maternal child health such as newborn care, proper feeding, among others that are inclusive, gender-sensitive and contextually appropriate.