Mother and child beneficiaries of the supplementary feeding program, Chad
	A boy eating school lunch as part of the School Health Improvement Program (SHIP), Indonesia

The goal of Food Security is for all people at all times to have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. This conventional definition breaks down into four main objectives: availability, accessibility, safety and quality, and utilization. The Food Security sector at IRD responds to the food insecurity concerns of vulnerable populations through programs to address these objectives.

In 2006, IRD continued its successful United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded Better Foods for Better Lives program in Indonesia by supporting production of soy-fortified rice noodles and iodine-fortified soy sauce. As a result, IRD’s local partners have produced over four billion packages of soy-enriched foods to date, reaching four million people in low-income communities each month.

IRD’s Better Foods for Better Lives program in Cambodia works to strengthen local food processing capabilities while providing fortified food products to 250,000 low-income consumers. The USDA-funded project, designed to promote private-sector development, has created thousands of jobs and has introduced industry best practices, such as flour fortification, to Cambodia. A school feeding component of the project provides daily school snacks for free to 8,500 children, giving an incentive for parents to send their children to school.

In Sri Lanka, IRD assists 12,000 rural students through the Hambantota Educational Support Improvement Project (HESIP). The USDA-funded project works with a local dairy company to provide daily rations of milk to 12,000 schoolchildren, works with parent-teacher associations and school committees to renovate school sanitation facilities, and assists the Ministry of Education in its health and nutrition awareness campaign.

In 2006, the Office of Food for Peace at USAID granted an extension to the International Relief Partnership Program that IRD implements in Kosovo. The program assists internally displaced and vulnerable populations by distributing commodities provided by Breedlove Dehydrated Foods to more than 3,000 families in the region.

IRD’s USAID-funded Emergency Food for Work and Agricultural Assistance Initiative for Affected Villages in eastern Chad provides emergency food security and agricultural improvement opportunities for villages affected by the influx of refugees fleeing neighboring Darfur, as well as the internally displaced persons in southeastern Chad. In South Sudan, IRD is assisting Sudanese refugees to return and reintegrate into communities they left during the civil war. With funding from UNHCR, IRD helps 10,000 households generate income through agricultural and fisheries projects. 

In response to the 2005-2006 drought in Mozambique, IRD is improving food security through community-based water harvesting systems and agricultural and apicultural income generation activities. Additionally, IRD started working with the World Food Programme (WFP) in July of 2006 to distribute food to orphans and provide home-based care to HIV/AIDS patients.

In 2007, the Food Security sector will continue to expand its presence in other African countries, including Niger and the Central African Republic.

Current Programs

• Cambodia – Better Foods for Better Lives
• Cameroon – Agricultural Commodity Distribution
• Chad – Emergency Food for Work and Agricultural Assistance Initiative
• Chad – Emergency Seed and Tool Distribution
• Chad – World Food Programme Food Distribution
• Chad – Livelihood Security Restoration for IDPs and Refugees
• Georgia – Agricultural Production and Rural Enterprise Support
• Indonesia – Better Foods for Better Lives
• Indonesia – Student Health Improvement Program (SHIP)
• Kosovo – Supplemental Feeding Programs for IDPs
• Laos – Safe Educational Opportunities
• Mozambique – Food Distribution in Maxixe
• Mozambique – Food for Work in Inhambane Province
• Niger – Agricultural Commodity Distribution
• Sri Lanka – Hambantota Educational Support Improvement Project (HESIP)