Local Context
In Peru, 22% of people live in poverty, with little access to nutritious food and 13.1% of children under 5 are chronically malnourished. Over the past decade, hunger and poverty have significantly decreased in Peru. One of the country’s greatest achievements was the halving of chronic child malnutrition, currently at 13.1 percent. However, rates still vary widely among regions, reaching peaks as high as 33.4 percent in remote rural areas in the Sierra and Amazon regions. Among indigenous people, especially in the Amazon, stunting rates have not decreased in the past ten years.
Almost one quarter of the population (22 percent) still lives below the poverty line and in rural areas deep pockets of food insecurity remain. Limited access to nutritious food is at the root of widespread nutritional problems. These include anemia, which remains pervasive and affects disproportionately the poorest regions and sectors of society, as well as overweight and obesity.
Solution
At NPH Peru we provide our children with a proper nutrition, which gives them the energy to live to their full potential, protects them against malnourishment, maintains their immune system, prevents obesity and reduces the risk of chronic disease.
Food
As a part of taking care of our children, we provide them healthy foods and drinks which will provide the energy and nutrients they need to grow. A balanced diet requires three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), as well as two snacks or appetizers at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. All meals at our home are prepared by our kitchen staff and our nutrition plan for 2023 is supervised by our local clinic jointly with a nutritionist, making sure all of our children benefit with the correct nutrients.
Kitchen Supplies
Having a clean and safe kitchen is an important step to a healthy home. We need to invest in various appropriate kitchen appliances and utensils to replace our current ones and to be able to properly cook the food for our children.
Organic Vegetables Garden and Local Farm
One of the main objectives of our house is to be as self-sufficient as possible, so we have implemented a production program in two areas: agriculture and livestock. We currently produce organic vegetables, without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, such as onions, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, passion fruit and chili peppers. We also produce almost 12,000 eggs per month, which we sell to local markets and also use in our children’s breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
We would like to expand and improve our local production activities by purchasing additional seeds, feed for our laying hens, and medicines. These items would allow us to adequately expand our egg and vegetable production, as well as properly care for our chickens.
