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South Sudan + 10 more

13 projects totaling $4 million committed in March

Over 140,000 people in 11 countries will benefit; includes emergency humanitarian response in South Sudan

Over 140,000 people in 11 countries will benefit from 13 projects totaling $4 million committed by Canadian Foodgrains Bank in March.

The projects are being implemented by Foodgrains Bank members ADRA Canada, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, Development and Peace—Caritas Canada, Emergency Relief and Development Overseas, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Presbyterian World Service & Development, Tearfund Canada and World Renew, in collaboration with their local partners.

One project, through Tearfund Canada, is responding to the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.

Ongoing conflict in South Sudan means hundreds of thousands of people are facing severe hunger. Over two million people have fled to neighbouring countries. Another two million are internally displaced. They are still within South Sudan, but away from their homes, land and support systems.

According to a United Nations report, there are over five million people experiencing hunger in South Sudan, and without help, this number could rise to seven million in the coming months—a new record for the most people ever affected by hunger at one time in the country.

Through its member Tearfund Canada, the Foodgrains Bank is responding with a project in the region of Aweil East that is providing 13,000 people with emergency vouchers exchangeable for sorghum, beans, oil and salt at local shops.

The project, which totals $783,000, is also providing seeds, tools and fishing kits to help families, most of whom depend on small-scale farming for their livelihoods, provide for themselves in the longer-term.

Another project, in Haiti, is responding to a different type of hunger. A series of natural disasters, combined with ongoing chronic poverty, means levels of hunger and malnutrition are high. Young children are particularly affected, as the effects of a poor diet during key developmental stages of their growth will stay with them their whole lives.

Foodgrains Bank member Presbyterian World Service & Development, alongside Partners in Health Haiti, is supporting the establishment of a mobile clinic with community health workers to identify and treat malnourished children under the age of five.

Children with acute malnutrition are being provided special therapeutic foods, and mothers are being supported in proper breastfeeding practices. In total, 4,200 people are benefitting from the project, which totals $380,000.

Other projects committed in March include:

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Uganda through Emergency Relief and Development Overseas totaling $57,000 and benefitting 1,500 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Nicaragua through Presbyterian World Service & Development, totaling $66,000 and benefitting 2,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods and nutrition project in Nepal through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $150,000 and benefitting 6,500 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Nepal through ADRA Canada, totaling $269,000 and benefitting 8,800 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Laos through World Renew, totaling $267,000 and benefitting 8,000 people.

  • A nutrition project in Bangladesh through Emergency Relief and Development Overseas, totaling $377,000 and benefitting 10,000 people.

  • A nutrition project in Cambodia through ADRA Canada, totaling $317,000 and benefitting 22,000 people.

  • A nutrition project in Democratic Republic of Congo through Canadian Lutheran World Relief, totaling $500,000 and benefitting 3,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Ethiopia through Development and Peace—Caritas Canada, totaling $240,000 and benefitting 8,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Kenya through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $281,000 and benefitting 24,000 people.

  • An agriculture and livelihoods project in Kenya through Mennonite Central Committee Canada, totaling $330,000 and benefitting 29,000 people.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank programs are undertaken with support from the Government of Canada.

--Amanda Thorsteinsson, Communications Coordinator