New Country Director and Representative and WFP to Laos Marc-André Prost in Vientiane on Oct 31(Photo by WFP)

(KPL) The World Food Programme (WFP) has pledged to further support and create favourable conditions for the Lao PDR on the nutrition in promoting the country’s efforts to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2026, said on Tuesday new Country Director and Representative and WFP to Laos Marc-André Prost.

Giving an interview to the media in Vientiane on Oct 31, Marc-André Prost said that the WFP will work closely with the government of the Lao PDR on promoting access to nutritious food for school-aged children, food insecurity especially in remote and ethnically diverse areas.

A group photo of Lao media and WFP team in Vientiane on Oct 31 (Photo by WFP)

The Lao PDR has seen a decrease in poverty, but despite these improvements, nutrition and food insecurity remain a persistent problem, especially among low-income families in rural areas.

WFP aims to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable people throughout their life cycle, as well as their resilience to seasonal and long-term shocks and stresses.

                                                                                                                                                                      Photo by WFP

WFP have supported the production of local nutritious crops, providing agriculture-skills training, building community assets such as fish ponds and improving road infrastructure, working with the private sector and advising on safe policies for the sale of food, enhancing communities’ ownership of initiatives such as school feeding, as well as promoting positive changes in people’s behaviour by providing education to improve infant and young child feeding practices and diversify diets. 

Having established a presence in the Lao PDR in 1975, the World Food Programme is supporting the Lao Government’s vision of “A prosperous country, with a healthy population, free from food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty”.

KPL