WFP project contributes to healthy food for children in Holguín
- Written by Redacción ¡ahora!
- Published in Holguin
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The development of an appropriate diet based on local agricultural production is a benefit that, according to Jose Alejandro Vedias, a sixth-grader at the Raul Gomez Special School, was provided by the project "Act Differently," run by the World Food Program (WFP) in Holguín.
Located in the town of San German in the eastern Holguin municipality of Urbano Noris, the educational institution has been part of the initiative since 2020, which is financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) through the WFP and is aligned with the Municipal Self-Supply Program (PAM by its SWpanish acronym) and the Food Sovereignty Program.
Ruber Peña Fleitas, coordinator of the project in that region, informed the Cuban News Agency that one of its objectives is to establish links between social protection networks and agricultural entities in order to improve the diet of vulnerable population groups and increase their knowledge about nutritional education.
Children are an important part of these sectors, which is why we benefit student centers such as semi-boarding schools and children's daycare centers with inputs for cooking and conservation of resources, and productive activities related to new tools that promote and facilitate the work of the land, he said.
Maite Zapatin Zaldivar, director of the Raul Gomez Garcia school, pointed out that, with an enrollment of 150 students and 40 workers, the school is favored with the acquisition of varied agricultural products, at reasonable prices and without intermediaries, for the school lunch that arrives weekly and that in 2024 received about 9,000 kilograms.
Among them are vegetables, viands and animal protein resources, such as eggplant, pumpkin, cassava and beef, previously agreed with the farmer according to their availability and the nutritional needs of the children, for which they took into account the tastes and preferences by age groups, she added.
Also known as the Koica project, implemented by the WFP, which belongs to the United Nations, provides direct assistance to more than 8,000 people in five municipalities in eastern Cuba and also aims to integrate agro-ecological practices, gender equity and the strengthening of agricultural value chains. (Source: ACN)
