Early in 2024, GlobalRise was notified of its selection for the FAO’s BAI Mountains & Islands Grant. Funds for this program came from GEF SPG managed by the United Nations (Global Environmental Fund, Small Grants Program). The fund aligns with our Community Nutrition Program (CNP) developed in Kasese, Uganda, in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains.

To gain this grant, GlobalRise spearheaded a community coalition that included Mbalhamia Healing Forest (MHF), Rwenzori International University (RIU) and AdFORD (a local church group that almost folded had we not stepped in). By moving our activity under this new coalition, we re-invigorated local leaders with a new vision to build the AdFORD MHF-DFS Mountain Center, now funded by UNDP Uganda (United Nations Development Program).
DFS, or “Digital Food System,” is an initiative GlobalRise developed after work in the community for 7 years. A DFS implements digital tools to transform efficiency in climate-friendly farming in the mountains and integrates key community assets like our CNP (Community Nutrition Program), designed with local foods and sensitivities to Bakonzo culture. This evidence-based program trains families to overcome stunting and other nutrition-related diseases.
Expanding Scope
With the help of FAO’s grant, we were able to transition implementation of our program to local leadership and assume role of project advisor. This freed up our time and resources to review the needs of stunted populations in other regions – Vietnam, Bhutan and India.

Today, teamed with humanitarian programs sponsored by corporations and foundations in other countries, GlobalRise continues to pursue its mission. This includes working with a group called “Coffee To Give” in Vietnam that provides fortified milk to 2,000 kids every school day in 27 schools located in Vietnam’s central highlands. This area is being targeted due to stubbornly high rates of stunting.
We also are teaming with Tarayana Foundation, founded by the honorable Queen of Bhutan, to target a disadvantaged population in East Bhutan; designing a program for implementation by the Foundation and the Royal University of Bhutan – Sherubtse College.
Finally, we are reviewing programs in India and coordinating with stakeholders. This includes a mountain hostel with 42 disadvantaged kids and an orphanage in the Himalayas that helps families with children who have congenital defects. Working with nutrition experts from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics in Chicago, USA, we are reviewing initiatives in India that seek to address stunting. India is home to over 42 million stunted children today.

Conclusion
GlobalRise has expanded its efforts to four countries. As we solidify our next group of projects to build a world of healthy kids, we ask you to join us! Today it is urgent to provide help, and give hope, to kids in the poorest regions of the world. We have a solid plan for meeting this urgent need.