ADB helps reduce malnutrition for poor children in Vietnam

The grant, from the ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction and financed by the Japanese Government, will help expand access to fortified complementary food for about 325,000 primary rural children aged between seven and 24 months.

Accordingly, new small-scale and semi-automated production facilities will be established in Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa provinces, while production facilities in central Quang Nam province and the capital of Hanoi will be expanded.

Over the three years, the grant will tap community-based channels for distribution, marketing, and nutrition education in six provinces and 60 districts. It will utilise the network of the Vietnam Women’s Union to educate mothers o­n improved feeding practices.

The grant will also develop and test at least three innovative distribution channels for fortified complementary foods to reach the poorest and most vulnerable areas, including a food voucher programme.

The project is estimated at a total cost of US$2.16 million, of which ADB’s grant will cover US$2 million while the Vietnamese Government and local producers will shoulder the balance of US$160,000.