To respond to food and nutrition insecurity, disrupted markets, and lack of job opportunities, the ALIVE-FNS project is addressing the immediate needs of vulnerable households and the mid & long term improvement of the selected value chains in 5 townships of Northern Chin State and the Ayeyarwaddy Region.
Implemented by a consortium — CIRAD, CORAD and Gret — the intervention aims to improve availability & access to safe, nutritious and diversified food for vulnerable producers and consumers in targeted areas and improve awareness of nutrition among value chains stakeholders.
Based on selection criteria, the action is supporting the improvement of konjac, vegetable and paddy value chains in 108 villages of the two regions.
Initial assessments have allowed the project to target more precisely the beneficiary households, assess their immediate needs and understand the economic, food security and nutrition situation in the area in order to adapt the proposed activities to the identified needs and local context.
She is 46 years old and has 4 family members. Her main livelihood activity is paddy farming, and during the farm breaks, she cultivates vegetables and breeds chicken and duck. Her eldest daughter is a high school student, and the youngest one is a primary school student. School fees depended on family income and in the rainy season, when she had to pay for school fees, it was the most difficult period to earn income as vegetables were not produced. She had to borrow money from others with interest. In 2021, she attended GRET technical courses on chemical-free vegetable farming.
From this training, she learnt the rainguard method in the rainy season, bio-input production and vegetable growing practices.
Based on learning, she invested in rain-guard and vegetable growing in the next rainy seasons. With the income generated, the school fees for her two daughters were no longer a problem as in previous years. In addition, the frequency of borrowing money has also decreased. Now the younger daughter is studying in (6th) grade and the eldest is continuing her education in Yangon, majoring in second-year chemistry.
In Khuangli village, all farmers grow vegetables for their livelihood and cultivate mostly Onion and Garlic for their daily income. But they do not cultivate much vegetables for their daily consumption such as Chinese cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, or cauliflower.
The interviewee is also growing vegetables and he said that thanks to seed kits supported by the ALIVE-FNS project, he can produce more vegetables for home consumption and also sold some extra ones to get income.
He also mentioned that some farmers can produce their own seeds and do not need to buy anymore from stores.
He does not use any chemical fertilizer in the farm where he grows the seed-kit varieties. He can then produce organic vegetables for home consumption. After eating organic vegetables, his family is healthier and can work more than before. They also have more varieties than before for their home diet.
After eating organic products, they know the benefits and they will try to use only organic fertilizer for producing for consumption.
