Peru: Improving Nutrition and Food Security for the Peruvian Child: a Capacity Building Approach
Indigenous children of Peru's High Andes and Amazon regions are among the most malnourished in the world: up to half of them suffer from chronic malnutrition and many are anemic and Vitamin A deficient. This Joint Programme supported the Peruvian government's effort to improve food security and nutrition in four of the country's poorest regions by accelerating implementation of the National Strategy “CRECER.”
The programme sought to promote and implement interventions to improve mothers’ and children’s nutrition through strengthened programmes and initiatives from different sectors. This integrated approach was vital to address the multiple determinants of child under nutrition.
The management, technical and analytical capacities of the actors involved in the implementation of “CRECER” were reinforced at national, regional and local level. Evidence-based interventions to improve child nutrition and integrated maternal and childcare practices were promoted at household and community level.
Main achievements included:
- Support for the production of the Annual Report by the Integrated Committee to Fight Poverty.
- Development of a task force for chronic malnutrition. Officials from four regions received training.
- Strengthening of national, regional and local policies to combat child malnutrition through an intervention model geared towards the main causes of chronic child malnutrition.
- Development and implementation of a Comprehensive Care model based on family and community. A university degree was created in primary health care health based on family and community health.
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Improved food security through Farmer Field Schools, mapping of agricultural risk management, determination of reference costs of food baskets and proposals for food fortification.
Click for more detailed results from the Joint Programmes in Peru (in Spanish).