Agriculture: Poverty Eradication and Food and Nutritional Security


Achieving food security and nutritional wellbeing has been central to MJP’s poverty alleviation programme in Samlout. In 2010, the organisation created 41 farmer field training schools with 301 farmers in 6 Samlout target villages. Training focused on: livestock management (cows, pigs and chicken-raising), homestead food production (fish and vegetable gardens), fruit trees and crop production. The main upland crops in Samlout are: soybeans, maize, sesame, mungbeans, and peanuts.

To better understand if the agro-ecological and economic conditions in Samlout improved since MJP started its food and nutritional security programme in 2007, its agro-team conducted a farmer field survey targeting 302 widow and vulnerable families from the 857 beneficiaries. The results of the 2010 survey showed that, on average, most vulnerable households in Samlout faced food shortages for 4 months a year. Some families (3.31%), however, did face food shortages throughout the whole year and others, such as Sre Reach vulnerable families (48.2), experience food shortages from 3 to 6 months. It must be noted that many vulnerable families live in sub-villages, which are often more remote and isolated than the main village, with little to no arable land. MJP’s health team has launched a new maternal and infant nutrition programme to educate these families on nutritional wellbeing.


2011 Agriculture Interventions/Vocational Training


  • Breeding Sow Project
    • Hen and Chick Project
  • Grower Chicken Project
  • Village Animal Health Worker (VAHW) Training
  • WVF (Widow and Vulnerable Families)
  • High Value Farmers-Main Wet Season (HVF-MWS) Upland Crops
  • Home Garden/Compost
  • Grass/Forage Plots
  • SALT (Slopping Agricultural Land Technology)
  • On-farm Trials

Targets

Reduce by 40%, between 2006 and 2012, the proportion of Samlout villagers living on less than $1 USD a day

Reduce by 25%, between 2006 and 2012, the proportion of Samlout villagers living on less than $2 USD a day

Reduce by 70%, between 2006 and 2012, the proportion of Samlout villagers who suffer from food insecurity

Improve consumption of micro-nutrient foods, especially targeting infants from 6 months to 2 years