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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.

After working for 3 months in the Rwenzori Mountains of western Uganda building a community nutrition program, our team traveled to another mountainous jungle 7,040 km away…the West Garo Hills in Meghalaya, India. Soon to be the world’s most populous nation (2023), India unfortunately hosts the largest population of stunted children on the planet – over 63 million. Most are located in northern India with some hot spots in southern areas including in the Nilgiris Hills situated in the Western Ghats.

After arriving by plane to Guwahati, we took a 7-hour truck ride into the jungles of eastern Meghalaya, towards a border with Bangladesh. Along the way we saw many of the common themes of remote areas: poor roads, homes made with minimal local materials and subsistence farming – in this area rice and betel nut (not very nutritional).

We finally entered a settlement in the hilly terrain and were greeted by over 100 orphans and staff! After warm hellos and a good night’s rest, we began to review the food system, including nutrition of children struggling with growth, kitchen operations and equipment, recipes and more. This helps us to understand key nutritional building blocks that may lead to better health for kids and staff.

We also discussed development of a school lunch program for the 250 community kids who walk 2 hours to their school, have no lunch and then walk back. We continue to appeal for this worthy project which will cost $48,000 USD annually for 3 years.

Our program reviews all available literature and studies about nutrition in the area, including POSHAN (India’s flagship nutrition program) and others. We found the nutrition rate to be unacceptably high – over 40% of kids – for this area. (See POSHAN here: https://poshan.ifpri.info.)

After our visit to Meghalaya, we flew to Vijayawada to see 3 related orphanages and a school. Our reception was incredible – music, flowers and a march to the main orphanage. The kids just loved it and we loved seeing their happy faces! It was sad, however, to see the girls packed into a small room to sleep…yet they are so happy! They desperately need a dormitory which will cost $10,000 USD.

We helped them to assess the health needs of the kids, and also discussed ways to develop a menu cycle that meets nutrient needs, conforms to food budget, improves recipes and takes into account kitchen capacity, equipment, staffing, sanitation and more.

A food operation for 400 kids (all 3 orphanages) is quite an undertaking and we applaud the owners for their daily sacrifice to make this happen.

The visit helped GlobalRise to understand the potential of our program in India. With the help of groups on the ground we want to develop an entry point; perhaps first helping an orphanage to assess and build the nutritional component of their food programs. We believe this approach, that we used in Uganda, can accelerate helping the community to launch a sustainable digital food system.

NOTE: To see a visualization of stunting prevalence in India, and other types of malnutrition, we recommend visiting this interactive site: https://t.co/MxX5JxLxAR