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BCCN: CIDA
• BC Christian News • JUNE ISSUE 1998 • VOL. 18 #6 • Formerly "Christian Info News" •
CIDA grant helps Canadian Food for the Hungry to help Cambodia
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THE HONORABLE Diane Marleau, Minister for International Cooperation, was in Abbotsford May 22 to announce that CIDA will contribute $200,000 for a project aimed at helping farm families in Cambodia become self-sufficient in food production.
"Household food security is a basic human need," said Madame Marleau. "This goes beyond the notion of food aid, important as that is. What we are looking at here is self-sufficiency -- helping farmers acquire the tools and training they need to ensure adequate food for their families, and to break through the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition."
David Collins (left), executive director of Canadian Food for the Hungry, with Minister for International Cooperation Diane Marleau and Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson.
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Managed by Canadian Food for the Hungry (CFH), a non-governmental Christian organization based in Abbotsford, and its partner, Food For the Hungry Cambodia, the three-year project targets a region of Cambodia hit by chronic food shortages, helping farmers experiment with new, sustainable agricultural methods.
"Local farmers will be involved every step of the way," said David Collins, executive director of CFH, "from the initial analysis of the situation right through to implementation and evaluation. That is the only way to ensure a positive, lasting impact on food security."
Working at the grassroots level, CFH will involve nearly 15,000 farmers in testing innovative techniques for preserving seeds and for increasing the organic content of the soil. One third of the project staff and participants will be women. An extensive training plan is designed to ensure the widest possible sharing of knowledge, as well as completely local management of the project by the year 2001.
The project builds upon lessons learned in an earlier pilot activity, to which Canada contributed $60,000. The current funding is part of more than $1.6 million allocated towards CFH projects in Cambodia, Rwanda, Kenya and Laos.
CFH has distributed more than $34 million in relief and development over the past four years.
For information call (604) 853-4262.
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