ECOSUN: Healthy Farm, Healthy Food Healthy Kids
Scaling up small-scale food processing of therapeutic and complementary foods for children in Vietnam
Vietnam’s concentrated efforts and remarkable socio-economic growth over the last two decades were critical to reducing malnutrition by more than 70 percent. Yet despite this progress, food insecurity and chronic malnutrition are still significant problems.
With an estimated population of 93 million, nearly 12 million Vietnamese people are undernourished. In rural areas where poverty is high, food insecurity and malnutrition are especially prevalent among women and children. Malnutrition affects an estimated 780,000 children in Vietnam, with 27.5% of them showing stunting and 16% being underweight.
Ryerson researchers and the National Institute of Nutrition, a branch of the Ministry of Health in Vietnam, are collaborating on a project that aims to improve nutrition and food security for Vietnamese children. With funding from Global Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Center (IDRC), the project applies and tests a food systems approach to scale-up production of fortified complementary foods for daily child feeding in three rural provinces - Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Ha Giang using locally sources raw materials from female farmers. These provinces are located in northern Vietnam along the border with China and have some of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the country.
Updated January 2018



Contributors
Ryerson University, Canada:, opens in new window
Cecilia Rocha, PhD (Principal Investigator)
Director and Professor, School of Nutrition & Research Associate, Centre for Studies in Food Security Ryerson University
crocha@ryerson.ca, opens in new window
Fiona Yeudall, PhD, RD, opens in new window
Andrea Moraes, PhD, opens in new window
Yvonne Yuan, PhD, opens in new window
Thomas Tenkate, PhD, opens in new window
Melody Mendonça, MHSc, opens in new window
Matthew Brown, MSc, opens in new window
Nguyen do Huy, MD (Principal Investigator)
Director, Food and Nutrition Training Center
National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam
nguyendohuy1965@yahoo.com, opens in new window
Phuong Huynh, MD, PhD
Do Thi Bao Hoa, MSc
Phuong Dao (Women’s Union)
Contact
crocha@ryerson.ca, opens in new window
Project dates
November 1, 2015 to June 30, 2018
Funding
IDRC/Global Affairs Canada
Supporting documents
IDRC press release, external link, opens in new window
Ryerson Today project announcement, opens in new window
PDF filePublic Launch Press release, opens in new window
Public Launch Media Articles in English, external link, opens in new window
Ryerson University’s Folio magazine, external link, opens in new window
PDF fileCAFS Newsletter, opens in new window
Ryerson School of Nutrition News, opens in new window