The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is one of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It is landlocked and mountainous, with significant parts of the country still inaccessible by road. More than two thirds of Lao PDR’s 5.5 million inhabitants live in rural areas which remain largely undeveloped.
Lao society is ethnically diverse with a great variety of languages and customs; 49 ethnic groups are officially recognized by the government. Health, nutrition and literacy indicators of people living in remote areas of the country are significantly lower than national averages, particularly for women.
Food insecurity is widespread throughout the country and alarmingly high in rural areas. As WFP’s Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA 2007) found, two thirds of the rural population in Lao PDR are food insecure or at risk of food insecurity should one or more livelihood shocks occur. Ethnic groups living in remote areas and rural children are particularly affected: every second child under five years of age in rural Laos is chronically malnourished (stunted).
Laos is also ranked as the world’s most heavily bombed country (per capita): vast areas are still contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) which continues to cause death and injury. The presence of UXO is directly connected to food insecurity as vast areas of land, particularly in remote places, remain unsafe for agricultural production.
WFP is working to connect farmers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic to markets through the Purchase for Progress initiative. Learn more
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These meals and rations work as an incentive for both children and their parents, adding to and reinforcing the value of education. They help to improve the nutritional status of whole families both in the short and long term.
Ultimately, education helps to break the cycle of poverty - educated children grow into men and women who produce and earn more, and who are more likely to send their own children to school.
The Livelihoods Support project aims to improve food security and strengthen the livelihoods of rural, primarily ethnic minority communities who face serious food shortages due to the transition from shifting cultivation to more sustainable agricultural practices or from opium production to alternative means of living.
With the support of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development agencies and national projects, households build productive assets such as paddy land, roads, bridges and fishponds, which will improve long-term food security. As an immediate compensation for the work, WFP provides rice to relieve the immediate food security pressure.
The project also includes a food-for-training component, targeting women and adolescent girls. They receive basic literacy and numeracy classes, improving standards of food production and consumption, and helping women develop their potential within the family and community.
In addition to the development programmes, a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) aims to meet the immediate food needs of villages that have lost their crops as a result of floods, droughts or other natural disasters through relief food.
The PRRO also addresses the longer-term needs of chronically food insecure villages by implementing food-for-work activities to create or rehabilitate assets relevant for household food security. These activities are implemented in partnership with the Lao PDR Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
WFP also collaborates closely with UXO clearance organizations which decontaminate and make land available for food-for-work activities.
With Feeding the Future WFP takes a community-based approach to nutrition education. The project focuses on ethnic groups living in remote areas of
WFP trains government staff to educate women of reproductive age and other care-givers about good nutrition habits which are culturally accepted and adaptable. The trainings are village-based, are given in three different ethnic languages, and are adapted to the respective cultural context using innovative learning materials and techniques.
