Food/Nutrition
Blog Post: Posted August 20, 2010, 12:45 pm by Lila Wade
Demystifying our work in North Korea
Country: North Korea
In North Korea, Mercy Corps programmes focus on alleviating hunger by expanding agricultural production. We also invite North Korean officials to the U.S. as part of building a humanitarian bridge between our country and theirs.
I recently talked about our work in North Korea (also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) including what it's like to host North Korean officials here in the U.S. with David Austin, a programme officer responsible for managing Mercy Corps programmes in North Korea.
Q: First, can you give us a little history? When and how did Mercy Corps begin working in North Korea?
David Austin: Well, Mercy Corps has had programmes in the DPRK for about 15 years. Our work began in 1996 when a North Korean diplomat to the UN began reaching out to aid agencies requesting help with agricultural production as there was a famine occurring in the country. One of the calls he made was to the late Ells Culver, who co-founded Mercy Corps. His response: "Sure! Let’s get started."
Q: What kind of programmes do we have there?
A large portion of our work remains centered on agriculture — improving growing techniques and encouraging the bio-diversity of crops. In 2000, Mercy Corps supplied 35,000 apple cuttings to orchards in Qwail County to boost production, which began an ongoing project revolving around apple production.
Since that first shipment, we have sent an additional 200,000 apple rootstock which have been propogated into more than 900,000 apple trees. Our hope for the future is that Mercy Corps can help communities begin making value-added products like applesauce, apple cider or dried fruit bars.
We have also helped on smaller crop projects on an annual basis, such as grass seed, potatoes, poplar trees and fish farms.
When there have been extraordinary circumstances, Mercy Corps has helped in times of crisis, such as providing medicines during the floods of 2007, food crises in 2008-2009 and, most recently, Mercy Corps was part of a USAID-funded initiative to bring medical supplies and electricity to hospitals in North Korea.
Q: What did this hospital initiative entail?
Mercy Corps purchased and installed five generators in five different hospitals in South Hwangae provinces with the help of volunteer electricians from here in Oregon. We then returned to monitor how the new generators were put to use and to assess the hospitals’ material needs. Finding the hospitals short on many basic supplies, Mercy Corps arranged for the delivery of several ultrasound machines, X-ray units, power conditioners and other needed supplies, such as operating beds and operating lights. I was able to visit the hospitals myself right after these supplies were delivered along with Nancy Lindborg, Mercy Corps' president.
Q: But there's a diplomatic element to our programmes as well, right?
Yes, you might say that we deliver more than just direct assistance. Through our aid work, Mercy Corps plays a unique role as a relational bridge between people in the United States and people in the DPRK. The nature of our work helps create these relationships, because it creates common ground. For instance, most of our work centers on agriculture. Agriculture is a science, which is, by nature, apolitical. Cooperation on these non-controversial fronts creates a space for engagement that will one day, we hope, open a window for the political opportunity.
Q: Tell me more about what you mean by a "relational bridge."
The relationship that Mercy Corps has built has been an incredible asset. By building trust, we have been provided with opportunities to take leadership in times of crisis, such as the famine in 1997 and most recently in 2008 and 2009. Normally, aid organisations don’t operate in the country, but because of our relationship with officials there, Mercy Corps and a few other non-governmental organisation (NGOs) were given unprecedented access. We were able to feed 890,000 people for eight months and crisscross the country visiting with the people who received the aid. We had open access to the areas we served, and in many cases we were
the first encounter North Koreans ever had with an American.
Q: But constructing a bridge to such an insular country can't be easy.
That's true. Few North Koreans are permitted to leave the country, but we have had the unique opportunity of inviting members of the Korean American Private Exchange Society, part of the government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to visit the U.S. These visits have been enriching experiences. They have given us the privilege of facilitating dialogue between state and local officials. Through these trips, we are able to extend the hospitality of our organisation, present new ideas about our vision for the future and show that there are many similarities between our country and theirs.
Q: What do North Korean officials do when they visit?
They visit our city, meet civic, political, business and academic leaders whose work or interests might inspire or assist the North Koreans. Over the course of their visit, we may take them to visit the World Forestry Centre, Oregon State University, and a national forest, the kinds of places where they can meet with experts on deforestation and agricultural productivity — two issues that the DPRK must address to reduce poverty.
We aim to build relationships and to facilitate the exchange of information. Our hope is that when these officials leave they will have experienced a deeper connection to our organisation, our donors, our city and the vision we have. Hopefully, this helps them understand the many opportunities there are to expand our work into new areas in their country through a deeper partnership.
Q: What's the hoped-for result of these partnerships?
Our hope is that the years and resources we spend in North Korea will relieve suffering today, and lay the groundwork for deeper relationships in the future. It makes a difference that we are a U.S.-based organisation because we invariably represent our country when we are there. Although we are not on a political mission, we are seen as Americans. Thus, our programmes and history in the country serve as a reminder of what is good in our country.
I have heard many survivors of World War II break down in tears of gratitude for the food and aid they received from the United States after the war was over. By providing aid in North Korea, who knows what kind of friends we’re creating for the future? But I'm sure that these relationships will be of lasting value.
Blog Post: Posted August 13, 2010, 10:31 am by Brian Oakes
Bringing food to Haiti's hungry families
Country: Haiti

Since the first weeks after January's earthquake, the Mercy Corps team has been working with families in extremely poor villages like Sarazin, in Haiti's Central Plateau. Photo: Fabiola Coupet/Mercy Corps
Families in Haiti’s Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite have been going hungry – not because food is not available, but because they cannot afford it.
We know that it will take much more than seven months to get Haiti’s devastated economy to a stage where it can adequately support Haitians – providing the jobs they need to take care of their families. We know that even before the earthquake, these families struggled with food security. And we know that this situation must change.
With support from USAID, Mercy Corps is taking the first step to address the dire situation in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite. Families in these areas have generously taken in thousands of people who left Port-au-Prince after the earthquake - adding more mouths to feed when they already struggled.
A £8 million grant, under the new Emergency Food Security Programme in Haiti, will allow us to provide emergency food aid to families in need – and to support local economies by purchasing the food from nearby markets and vendors. We welcome this new effective and efficient food aid initiative.
Twenty thousand families, or approximately 100,000 people, will benefit from this programme. For nine months, we will give them vouchers for monthly supplies of staples like rice, beans, and oil. We estimate that nearly half of the people who receive this food will have been displaced by the earthquake.
One hundred thirty five small businesses will also benefit – providing food staples for these families and earning additional income.
This USAID-funded programme is a key element of Mercy Corps’ efforts in these underserved regions of Haiti. Separately, Mercy Corps is also providing emergency income to 20,000 families hosting internally displaced people through cash for work and cash grants. We will also run a voucher programme so these families can buy shelter supplies to improve their now-crowded homes, and we will help women buy supplies to start their own small businesses.
Long term, Mercy Corps is working to jumpstart these regional economies through improved agricultural production and small business support – so that families no longer go hungry, because they have the income to buy what they need.
Blog Post: Posted July 29, 2010, 10:50 pm by Piva Bell
"Is it healthy food or not?"
Country: Indonesia

Noni, one of the teachers at the Aisyiyah Suka Ramai Kindergarten in Aceh, shows what a healthy lunch looks like. Photo: Piva Bell/Mercy Corps
“Why, lately, has my child been commenting on the food that I cook, asking if is it healthy food or not?” was a mother's question. Yulaita, the principal of Aisyiyah Suka Ramai Kindergarten in Aceh recalls hearing the question — she's also been hearing similar question from her child. In fact, it seems like — recently — the students of that kindergarten have become really aware on what kind of food their mothers cook for them.
This kindergarten is one of nine kindergartens in Aceh that are are the focus of Mercy Corps' children's nutrition training, part of the Kedai Balitaku (KeBal) programme, which means "My Child's Café" in Indonesian. And since the KeBal team has put lots of hard work to encourage children five and under eat healthy food and mothers to cook healthy food, my smile just gets wider, knowing that local parents have come to teachers and asked questions because their children are advising them about healthy food.
The teachers didn't ignore those questions. Yulaita and other teachers gladly informed them about the nutrition training held by the KeBal programme at their school, and even transferred their knowledge about healthy food to these parents. For Yulaita, who has been teaching in various kindergartens since 1980, this nutrition training programme with KeBal is really special and she is very enthusiastic, since she never had this kind of experience before. The good news is that the parents really support Yulaita, the school principal, to keep maintaining the school's collaboration with KeBal in conducting the nutrition training. And because of it, the parents are encouraged to cook healthy food and send healthy lunches to school for their children.

Children at the Aisyiyah Suka Ramai Kindergarten learn about better nutrition through storytelling. Photo: Piva Bell/Mercy Corps
Nona, one of the teachers who is helping Mercy Corps monitor the eating behaviour of Aisyiyah Suka Ramai's students told me that, besides the games, the children really like the story telling session of the training. They talked about it a lot.
Without asking, these children have also taught the new students about healthy food, and encouraged their new friends to eat healthy food like them. This has made Yulaita really happy, and she hopes that in the future Mercy Corps will maintain the collaboration with her kindergarten.
Since the programme began ten months ago, Mercy Corps' KeBal programme in Aceh has reached 1,023 kindergarten students and 688 adults, as well as promoting healthy food to other 1,420 children. Counting nutrition trainings and customers reached by KeBal's food cart operators, we've served a total of 7,318 people. I am sure that with KeBal, more children and parents in Aceh will continue caring more about eating healthy food.
Posted July 15, 2010 by Jarrod Fath
Global Agriculture Results for 2009
In 2009, 87 projects in 25 countries contributed to Mercy Corps' Agricultural Development Goal of working with “farmers, agribusinesses and government to decrease hunger, increase incomes and improve environmental sustainability.” Agricultural development programming was used to respond to a number of global challenges — including the recent global food crisis, chronic food insecurity and poverty, resettlement of conflict- and natural disaster-affected populations, and increasing social inclusion.
Mercy Corps works directly with small holder farmers and pastoralists, as well as input suppliers, animal health workers, financial service providers, government extension agents, marketing centers and trade associations to:
- Improve the performance of high impact agricultural value chains;
- Increase access to financial services; and
- Improve the enabling environment via better business and government services.
Please find, at right, a chart that illustrates the reach and impact of Mercy Corps' agricultural programmes in calendar year 2009.
Blog Post: Posted June 28, 2010, 5:33 am by Glory Dwi Anjan...
Meet the lady farmers who produce coffee and breastfeed their babies!
Country: Indonesia
Topics: Food/Nutrition
Earlier this month, I got a fulfilling experience to do a new assessment on a potential new programme involving coffee farmers in Central Aceh district and its surrounding area. When the Indonesia Country Director, Sean Granville-Ross, assigned me on that task, I was thrilled, not just because I was going to go to the infamous beautiful highland in the heart of Aceh, but to me it also sounded like: a new programme!
The excitement to me, personally, because this would be the first time to do an assessment from scratch -- for a new potential programme, while beforehand I have been involved in many assessments for our education and community development programmes, which meant the programme was already set up.
But this time was totally different! We are the one who should decide what kind of programme intervention to propose based on our field assessment result. Oh, and I said we, because I was lucky enough to do this assessment with my former manager, Laura Bruno, who now is the Senior Programme Officer for Southeast Asia. Awesomeness!
Photo: The village natural beauty with coffee land along the roadsides. Photo Glory Sunarto/Mercy Corps
The districts of Central Aceh and Bener Meriah were the target areas to assess which well known as the area of coffee producers. Most of the populations are coffee farmers. We were not seeking particular data on their regular coffee business, but assessing their other potential sources of income through other livelihoods they have and also how their life as coffee producers can support them in the need of daily nutrition, food security, clean water, and sanitation access. That included the level of the lady farmers’ awareness and behaviour on breastfeeding.
Apart from having 10 different meetings with some government institutions and cooperatives in those areas to gain information on financial literacy and more economic development aspect, we visited this one village of Kelupak Mata, in Kebayakan sub-district, in Central Aceh. The village was hidden behind the hills to reach it we had to drive up a steep cliff. But it was worth it, since it was a very beautiful village with beautiful people who were living there! The goal was to touch base and find out the real example of their access to health facility, sanitation and breastfeeding behaviour!
So, there we were, having a informal group discussion with a small group of coffee farmers led by Mr. Isri while sipping the superb morning coffee of Gayo Highland. Afterward, his wife, Mrs. Nusrawati, took us for a walk to see the health clinic facility and had a chat with a pregnant mother who is also a coffee farmer, Mrs. Jasmani. She told us about how the village midwife and the health clinic are continuously campaigning and giving information about how important is exclusive breastfeeding and also how she strongly believes that breastfeeding her baby is the best choice. She opposed the idea of giving formula for her baby, other than it cost a lot -- for a poor villager like her -- also it’s not as healthy as breastmilk.
Interestingly, we also met a group of women who were doing the coffee grading. The atmosphere at the place was so cheerful and carefree. They all welcomed us warmly, so we sat down with them and asked about the breastfeeding behaviour in the village. They unanimously said that they all breastfeed their babies even when they are working at the coffee plantation.
“We hang the baby on the nearby tree, so whenever they are hungry we can just stop working and breastfeed them,” explained one lady, just as what Mrs. Jasmani told us earlier.
It was only three days of assessment, but it was intense, and we know exactly what we are going to write down on our concept paper. Those cheerfully non-stop giggling group of ladies inspired us the most!
Blog Post: Posted June 16, 2010, 4:08 am by Sarah Royall
Vegetarian Food Diaries in Tajikistan, Part 1
Country: Tajikistan
Topics: Food/Nutrition
I've been in Tajikistan for a few days now and I finally admitted to my colleagues that I packed most of a suitcase with food because I was that worried about my ability to find vegetarian food here. They all laughed at me because the food here is actually quite good, even for vegetarians.
On my first day here, I wandered into a small market near the Mercy Corps guest house in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. A woman with an entire top row of gold teeth welcomes us to her table and allows us to sample her goodies: multiple kinds of almonds including sugared, a variety of dried apricots from last year and maybe even before, dried cherries, dried rose hips, and roasted chickpeas with or without salt from this year or before.
This was the first moment I was embarrassed to have brought my suitcase with food, which is mostly filled with almonds and dried fruit.
The Mercy Corps cooks have been very accommodating about making me vegetarian meals with protein, something I particularly struggled with when I worked in Africa. During my safety briefing I was even told that my diet is recommended during the hot season because power fluctuates frequently, causing meat to go from hot to cold and hot again before cooking, allowing bacteria to flourish first in your food and then in your gut! Sadly, the same thing happens to ice cream, so I have been warned to avoid this too. I was looking forward to ice cream, but my waistline will probably thank me!
Blog Post: Posted May 28, 2010, 10:00 am by Jennifer Schmidt
Video: MBAs in action
Country: Indonesia
It’s midnight in the slums of Jakarta. Four intrepid Ivy League co-eds, armed only with a video camera, tiptoe down a dark alley towards a door cracked open just enough to reveal the orange glow of a light within…
It sounds like the latest slasher movie doesn’t it? But in fact it’s a day in the life of a group of Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at MIT’s prestigious Sloan School of Management, who — in addition to studying finance and marketing — are learning to use their business acumen to make a difference in the world.
Here are two short video clips, so you can find out what this group of MBA students was doing walking around at this late hour. The answer will surprise you!
These students worked with Mercy Corps as part of MIT’s G-Lab (Global Entrepreneurship Lab), an innovative programme in which teams of MBA students work with host companies in what is essentially a four-month unpaid mini-consulting project.
Mercy Corps' challenge to these students: turn a healthy food-cart pilot project into a self-sustaining enterprise that will provide affordable, nutritious food to poor children.
In Jakarta, street food sold from carts is often high in fat and sugar, lacking nutrients and prepared in unhygienic conditions, contributing to high rates of malnutrition among young children. Enter Mercy Corps’ Kedai Balitaku project (KeBAL for short) which translates to “My Child’s Café.” These brightly coloured, child-friendly food carts provide healthy, safe and delicious food for children under five.
Two weeks ago, I went to MIT to meet the students and see their final presentation. They had terrific insights and creative solutions, as well as a business plan and set of financial tools that will help Mercy Corps' Indonesia team take this programme to scale.
Four students, big impact. And more evidence of the limitless creativity that can be brought to bear in tackling seemingly intractable problems. Many thanks and best of luck to Erica Carlisle, Chris Lin, Libby Puttnam, and Emily Sporl, the Mercy Corps Indonesia G-Lab student team!
Blog Post: Posted May 11, 2010, 6:22 am by Muhammad Rizal
Growing with Kedai Balitaku
Country: Indonesia
I believe that helping people to sell nutritious foods for children is the best strategy to ensure sustainability. Since February 2010, Mercy Corps' local nutrition programme — called Kedai Balitaku — has promoted and advertised healthy food and child nutrition to more than 5,000 children under five in 100 kindergartens in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar. We are proud to announce three big successes this month from the programme:
- Vendors are using their profits to expand their businesses: Four months ago, Mrs. Harlina was unemployed, but now she has earned an average of £30 per week from selling healthy snacks. The foods that she makes and sells are well-liked by both children and parents in Banda Aceh. Mrs. Harlina is currently applying for a loan from a local micro credit institution to buy a small food processing machine. In addition, three other Kedai Balitaku vendor have used their earnings and new business acumen to grow their businesses: Mrs. Syarifah has already bought a mixer to help in her business. Mrs. Fiza has bought a mixer to help her produce more bread and a motorbike on credit to support the distribution of her products. Mrs. Yanti has bought new furniture and a refrigerator from the profits she got during February, March and April 2010.
- A vendor was invited to participate in the district's Pameran Produk Unggulan (Superior Product Exhibition): Mrs. Rosmaniar was invited by the district of Aceh Besar to participate in a “Superior Product Exhibition from May 3-9, 2010. The project is organised by the local government to promote local products and help small enterprise develop. The opening of the exhibition was attended by almost all government employees and communities in the regency of Aceh Besarh. Mrs. Rosmaniar displayed homemade Banana Cake, Cheese-Banana Bread and Carrot Muffins at the Expo. She also earned £30 from selling various nutritious snacks.
- Children have voluntarily changed from junk food to fruits: In addition to vendor support, Mercy Corps is working to provide extensive health information to more than 500 children under the age of five in nine kindergartens that are located near each of our vendor’s homes. The aim of the health campaign is to change children's food consumption behaviour during school time. Isva Rahmi — Mercy Corps Nutrition Officer — along with her teacher assistant, Fitri, are teaching children about healthy food through role-playing and story telling.
The teachers and I initially thought it would take a long time for children to learn to replace chocolate and candy with fruits and vegetables. However, we were all very surprised with the quick results of the nutrition campaign. On the second visit, Isva taught the children that snacks containing additives are harmful, then asked the children to replace the snacks brought from home with locally available fruits. The result was that almost all of the children collected their snacks and traded them for fruits!
Two schools have reported that they are happy with the result of nutrition campaign. A teacher whose students participated in the programme last week thanked the nutrition team. She said that they are very happy because student’s appetites have become better. The children didn’t eat much before Mercy Corps promoted about healthy food, because the fatty snacks they used to eat had eliminated their appetite.
Another teacher reported that parents have met them recently and said that they are really glad with the change in their children's behaviour. The parent told the teacher that their children had talked to them about the nutrition education campaign. Their children are now aware about nutrition and can choose between healthy and unhealthy snacks.
On the third visit, some children welcomed the nutrition team shouting “We do not eat unhealthy snacks anymore.”
“I didn’t eat candy today,” said one boy. “Me too, I don’t eat chocolate!” said another one. On the third visit, Isva brought Kedai Balitaku homemade snacks with fruits and vegetables inside. She never expected that children would ask her, “is it healthy food you bring?” Here is more to healthy growth!
Posted May 4, 2010 by Dini Windu Asih
From Pushing a Pedicab to Steering a Healthy Food Cart
Country: Indonesia
His name is Gunanto, or Gun for short. He's 32 years old with two school-aged children. His wife works as a laundry laborer in their Jakarta neighborhood and earns 150,000 Indonesian rupiah — about £9 — per month. Gun hauled passengers in a pedicab for two and a half years, earning around 30,000-40,000 rupiah (US$3-$4) per day while working from 7 A.M. to 10 P.M.
Then a city regulation was passed that no longer allowed pedicabs in the community. Gun's livelihood — and his family's primary source of income — instantly disappeared. He was then recruited by the local sub-district office to work as a security guard for the next two years. But, when he had to take a test to secure a permanent job in the government office, he was let go because he didn’t have an adequate level of education.
Gun was out of work again. But soon, the Head of Village and a local midwife — who had both noticed him as a hard worker — talked to him about joining a Mercy Corps programme that had just started up in the neighborhood: Kedai Balitaku, or Kebal.
Kebal promotes low-cost, nutritious food for children under five, as well as nutritional advice for parents. Vendors push colourful carts around Jakarta's neighborhoods, making food purchases easy for households. At the same time, Kebal also offers a new avenue of economic opportunity for low-income families — like Gun's family.
After the recommendation of his neighbors, Gun went through the selection process and passed. He was then trained by Mercy Corps staff for three days to start tending a Kebal cart in the afternoon. The training taught him how maintain the hygiene and nutrition standards of Kebal foods, bookkeeping, marketing and good customer service.
Gun is really good at it. He really enjoys meeting people, talking and building relationships with mothers and their children. Wearing the Kebal uniform of a branded t-shirt, hat and apron, personalized with jeans and sporty shoes, people have noticed that he looks different now.
At first, Gun took over the food cart from Ibu Saripah — the neigborhood's other Kebal vendor, who cooked and vended the morning — in the afternoon. But, with help from Gun, Saripah she decided to focus only on cooking the food for the cart. This gives Gun more chances to sell in the morning. Saripah enjoys this new business model of business, as she receives income based on Gun's daily orders. She is no longer taking a risk if some food is not sold and is no longer bearing the physical burden of pushing a heavy cart across damaged and rainy streets.
Today, Gun earns a profit of 500 rupiah (about £0) per one portion of 2,000 rupiah chicken porridge he sells, and 250 rupiah per one fruit jelly that sells for 1,000 rupiah. He's found that, with Kebal, he's now earning more income for the family with a much shorter workday.
Of the four vendors who currently operate Kebal carts around Jakarta, Gun is the most successful: he sells 75 portions of chicken porridge in the morning and 40 portions in the afternoon, and at least 50 – 70 fruit jellies per day. He earns between 50,000 and 70,000 rupiah (US$5-7) per day as his net profit.
He sees a great future in this business. He's keeping his attention on strategic areas where there are many children under five years old, maintains his current loyal customers by giving his best service and continues building good relationship and trust. Some of his customers come from different neighborhoods and found about Kebal — and Gun — from their friends, relatives or when they visited the health centre to get health care for their children. This is called mouth-to-mouth promotion, and it's vital to keeping Kebal growing. Gun and other vendors also interact daily with various government officials and staff at local schools. These people are the promotion chain for this programme, which helps maintain Gun's livelihood.
Even when he’s not vending, Gun greets mothers and children with confidence and cheer. He teaches children to wash their hands with water and soap that he has in the cart, and plays with them. Fun is part of the success of Kebal: each cart is colourful, attractive and has four painted characters representing Carbohydrate, Protein, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetable, which are featured in Kebal’s foods. Gun always plays the jingle to let his customers know that he is passing their houses. He also calls out to mothers and children with his own voice: bubur, bubur, bubur — which means "porridge, porridge, porridge," the main breakfast for children under five here in Jakarta.

"Even rain and flood do not stop me from my work," Gun says, pushing his cart through rising waters. Photo: Mercy Corps
He maintains his health by trying to rest and eat well during his break times. He doesn’t want to pass a day without selling. When he's sick, he feels bad because he believes that his customers are waiting for their food —awaiting the sounds from the cart. Gun is committed not only to meeting his family's needs, but also to providing healthy foods for children under five. He listens to advice from mentors on how to maintain and improve his business. He sells, goes around the neighborhood and finds potential new areas to sell.
"Even rain and flood do not stop me from my work," Gun says. "I have to deliver the healthy food for them, or I will feel bad to them, and to my family, if I don’t bring any cash home."
Gun is really grateful for his new job — a new opportunity to become a successful entrepreneur. He is eager to learn more from successful entrepreneurs and anyone who can give him helpful advice. He believes this is a combination of a big challenge and an opportunity for him to grow with this business and bring more to his family.













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