World Food Day 2015 – What is World Food Day?

October 16th is World Food Day – a day of action against hunger. From the World Food Day USA website (CLICK THIS LINK to learn much more about World Food Day):

“Why care about hunger? Because the right to food is a basic human right. In a world of plenty, 805 million people, one in nine worldwide, live with chronic hunger. The costs of hunger and malnutrition fall heavily on the most vulnerable.

  • 60% of the hungry in the world are women.
  • Almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year.
  • 4 in 10 children in poor countries are malnourished damaging their bodies and brains.”

Improving Food Security & Nutrition for Bolivian Farm Families

Rural Bolivia is one area of the world where hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity are big issues. In response to these issues, and listening to what the communities we partner with ask for, Mano a Mano built a Center for Ecological Agriculture to provide low-cost, low-tech tools to improve food security and nutrition for Bolivian farm families; it serves as a demonstration & training center for farmers so they can improve their lives and raise enough food to feed their families.

One Family’s Experience – Building a Greenhouse in Jironkota

Jironkota is a typical community throughout the high Andes. In a place like Jironkota, one truly is off the grid….in reality there is nothing like a “grid” in the Jironkota area. People who live there devote their lives to meeting the family’s most basic needs.

Jironkota, Bolivia

Jironkota, Bolivia

This Jironkota family’s story is one of them.

They visited our training center last year, along with several other leaders from her community. She had learned from the nurse in her Mano a Mano clinic about the importance of feeding her children a more nutritious diet – not just corn and potatoes, which are the staple crops in the Bolivian altiplano.

The Mano a Mano clinic in Jironkota.

The Mano a Mano clinic in Jironkota.

So she tried to raise carrots and other vegetables but her plants froze in the cold mountain winds. When she saw the greenhouse demonstration, she asked Mano a Mano to help.

When Mano a Mano recently visited Jironkota, they proudly showed us that they were not only raising plentiful vegetable crops on the floor level, they were also tying squash vines on roof beams and wall pegs to leave room for vegetables on the floor. She says now she can help her children stay healthy with vegetables. Now they have more to eat.

Greenhouse in Jironkota with many vegetables growing.

Greenhouse in Jironkota with many vegetables growing.

Many Stories Like This to ‘Keep Moving Forward’

As our co-founder Joan Velasquez said after sharing these stories: “There are hundreds of stories like those we have shared. Each one touches our hearts and compels us to keep moving forward.”

Don Primitivo celebrating the water pump starting to flow at Mano a Mano's water reservoir in Laguna Sulti, Bolivia.

Don Primitivo celebrating the water pump starting to flow at Mano a Mano’s water reservoir in Laguna Sulti, Bolivia.

From building large-scale agricultural water reservoirs, to providing training to rural farmers through our Center for Ecological Agriculture, to building and improving roads, Mano a Mano is committed to improving the lives of rural Bolivian farmers; and we need your help – you are the seed that allows Mano a Mano to bring together many different groups and achieve results that none of us could do on our own.

Mano a Mano projects are always done in partnership with the community, municipal government, and other groups; here more than 300 community residents turn up for a community work day on the Mano a Mano water reservoir in Sancayani. Learn more about our partnership model.

Mano a Mano projects are always done in partnership with the community, municipal government, and other groups; here more than 300 community residents turn up for a community work day on the Mano a Mano water reservoir in Sancayani. Learn more about our partnership model.

Ending Hunger Starts With Us

If you are interested in supporting Mano a Mano’s projects that improve lives for Bolivian farmers, please consider making a DONATION, or CONTACT US to learn more.