LAOS: FOOD SECURITY TIED TO IMPROVING NUTRITION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000295

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT JANET SPECK, GARY CLEMENTS, DON
MORTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EAID PREL LA
SUBJECT: LAOS: FOOD SECURITY TIED TO IMPROVING NUTRITION

REF: STATE 058996


1. Summary: Per reftel, DCM discussed U.S. food security
goals with acting Director General Tieng Boupha of the MFA.
Mr. Boupha noted that achieving food security is critical for
Laos to achieve its own development goals and anticipates the
Government will support the new U.S. initiative. A Senate
Foreign Relations report in February 2009 used Laos, as well
as Ethiopia and Zambia, as an example of a country suffering
from severe food insecurity. Although self-sufficient in
rice production, a WFP study in 2007 stated that every second
child under 5 in rural areas of Laos is chronically
malnourished (and thus stunted to varying degrees),while two
thirds of rural households are at risk of becoming food
insecure. In December 2008, the Lao government issued a
National Nutrition Policy 2008-2020, prepared together with
the FAO and other international organizations, that offers
the United States an opportunity to assist Laos in combating
food insecurity. End Summary.


2. On June 10, the DCM discussed reftel with the MFA's
acting Director General for Europe and the America's Tieng
Boupha. Mr. Boupha noted that achieving food security in
Laos is crucial to Laos achieving its national goal of
leaving LDC status by 2020. He anticipates the Government of
Laos (GOL) will support the principles behind the food
security agenda at the L'Aquila summit. A WFP report
released in December 2007 (www.wfp.org/content/laos-
comprehensive-food-security-vulnerability-ana lysis-cfsva)
found that malnutrition and stunting rates in Laos had not
improved in the past ten years. This set off a scramble
among the Government and other development partners to
address food security in more detail.

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Lugar Study Highlights Food Insecurity in Laos
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3. On February 6, 2009 the minority staff on the Senate
Foreign Relations committee issued a report entitled "Global
Food Insecurity: Perspectives from the field."
(http://lugar.senate.gov/food/report) Laos was one of three
countries described in detail as suffering from serious food
insecurity. Drawing from the WFP's comprehensive food
security report, and interviews with concerned local
organizations, the report focused on the critical need to
improve nutrition, as Laos is self-sufficient in rice
production overall. According to the staff report, Laos
scores 20.6 on the Global Health Index, similar to Sudan
(20.5). Every second child under 5 in rural areas is
malnourished (and thus stunted),while two thirds of rural
households are at risk of food insecurity. Approximately 78%
of Laos' 6.8 million people are subsistence farmers.

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Rural Poor, Minorities Hardest Hit
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4. The Lugar report highlights the lack of fat, oils, and
micronutrients as a major cause of malnutrition in Laos. The
most food insecure are the minority hill tribes, who often
live in remote villages in the mountainous northern and
eastern regions and farm primarily upland rice using slash
and burn agriculture, and poor subsistence farmers lacking
cash to purchase necessary food supplements. Rural Lao eat
little meat, relying on fish for most of their protein, and
the Lugar report notes that their diet is low in fats and
oils. The prevalence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the
Indochina war is a unique contributor to food insecurity in
Laos. Hill tribes, who often rely on Non Timber Forest
Products (NTFP) to supplement their diet, must weigh the need
for NTFPs with the real risk of death or disability from
accidental contact with UXO.


5. Comment: The GOL is currently working on an action plan
to implement its 2008-2020 National Nutrition Policy. The
Lugar report's suggestions on combating malnutrition and food
insecurity in Laos often overlap with the principles
articulated in reftel. Laos has a country-owned plan, is
already strategically coordinating with international donors
and multilateral agencies, and is desperate for investment in
all seven of the highlighted key areas.


6. The United States is already active in reducing
malnutrition in Laos. The Department of Agriculture (USDA)
recently funded a new school feeding/attendance program in
southern Laos, based on a similar program in the north, with
a three-year, $9 million grant. USDA has also funded a

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two-year school feeding/UXO removal program from the NGO
Humpty-Dumpty, and the Embassy is currently working with
USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance to provide
emergency food aid to northern Lao provinces suffering from a
severe rat infestation. These measures, while critical to
temporarily reducing food insecurity in certain areas, are
not designed to systematically increase the GOL's capacity to
reduce food insecurity and malnutrition at the national
level. Increasing long-term agricultural productivity and
expanding access to fats, oils, and micronutrients, both via
better education, improved crop selection, and improved UXO
clearance, will help Laos ensure that the next ten years see
a decrease in rural malnutrition. End Comment.
HUSO