VIENTIANE: The World Bank has approved an additional funding of US$22.5 million for Laos to address rural poverty.
The sum will be channelled to the Poverty Reduction Fund, which is one of the Lao government’s main vehicles to handle poverty in the nation.
The World Bank said it would continue its support of agriculture-related activities under the government’s National Nutrition Strategy.
The Vientiane Times said the additional funding was in the form of soft loans, which is a loan with a below market rate interest.
The World Bank’s financing comes from the International Development Association, meant for the poorest countries.
The focus of the Nutrition Strategy will be on upgrading agricultural infrastructure for improving livelihoods and nutritional intake, and broadening the access for seed grants to self-help groups.
The additional funding will also contribute to a government multi-sectoral nutrition initiative to reduce child growth stunting in some of the poorest districts of the country.
The programme focuses on the provinces of Oudomxay, Huaphan, Phongsaly and Xieng Khuang, where rates of child growth stunting are high.
The initiative will also help agricultural communities improve livestock and crop production, with a focus on diverse and nutritious foods.
World Bank’s country manager for Laos Nicola Pontara said since 2002, the Poverty Reduction Fund had improved the lives of more than 1.2 million people living in nearly 3,000 of the poorest villages of the country.
“They (the government) now have improved village roads, sanitation, irrigation, schools and health facilities.
“This additional funding will increase the diversity of food groups that children and pregnant mothers consume by enabling them to produce their own nutritious food while increasing incomes.”
The World Bank also said the Lao government’s National Nutrition Strategy and Plan of Action aimed to accelerate the reduction of stunting among children under 5 years old.
It targets to reduce it from 44 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent by 2025, through activities, such as strengthening social safety nets and setting up a conditional cash transfer programme to target beneficiaries.
Even though poverty has significantly declined in the country over the previous decade, the disparity between regions and among socioeconomic and ethnic groups is high.
As of 2016, about 19 per cent of Lao citizens were undernourished and 33 per cent of children under 5 years of age were stunted.
In the poorest communities, stunting rates in children are more than three times higher than children in the richest communities.
It has also been shown that stunted children are more susceptible to chronic diseases in adulthood, attain fewer years of schooling and have low incomes as adults.
This initiative targets child nutrition as part of the World Bank’s Human Capital Project that aims to increase investments in human potential for greater equity and economic growth.