Clark-Fulton is a known food desert. Can new health initiatives change the way a neighborhood eats?

A produce prescription program is one of several approaches that people living in Navajo Nation are taking to combat the harms of living in a food desert. Although this program has only been implemented on a small scale so far, 15 health care clinics are participating and 1,700 Navajo people have used to program to access fresh produce with many reporting positive health impacts.

Starvation has become a public health crisis across Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Somaliland, but enhanced health education is helping to mitigate this critical issue. The focus of the community education programs is aimed towards increasing knowledge around the connection between nutrition and health and implements strategies such as how to properly desiccate fruits and vegetables.

Child mortality is a global problem that can be reduced by increasing breastfeeding rates; however, many mothers are either under too much cultural pressure, need to work, or cannot lactate enough milk. Brazil has devised an education program to help mothers breastfeed and has also created milk banks, through which mothers can donate excess milk to mothers who cannot produce. Additionally, Brazil offers paid maternity leave for mothers who have time to breastfeed and provide better health for their bodies as well as their new babies.

Haiti suffered tremendous losses after the 2010 earthquake, exacerbating the devastation in an already impoverished country. In 2015, agriculture in Haiti is a growing business backed by the United States’ Feed the Future Initiative. Nourishment and health of mothers and babies has also improved with the encouragement of breastfeeding and sweet potatoes.

The local non-profit Nuru Nigeria trained nearly 2,000 women in conflict-affected Adamawa State communities to cultivate backyard vegetable gardens, providing locals with a reliable food source. The program distributed drought-resistant, nutrient-rich seeds and taught women how to integrate balanced, vitamin-rich diets that address malnutrition. Women who participated in the program report measurable health improvements in their families, including fewer illnesses and healthier pregnancies.

Operated by The Neo Child Initiative, the ReachOut Project provides nutrional counseling and screening to parents and their children in underserved communities, free of charge. Since 2015, the ReachOut Project has supported 20,000 people across 10 communities in the state.

The Save the Child Initiative, in collaboration with the Society for Women Development and Empowerment in Nigeria, is working to ensure that expectant mothers receive proper nutrition during pregnancy so they can deliver healthy babies. The initiative provides iron and folic acid supplements, nutrition counseling, hosts antenatal clinics, and even travels door-to-door to provide education and care to those in need.

The Milk Bank Nigeria provides donor breast milk for sick, low birth weight and premature babies in neonatal ICUs across the country to reduce mortality in preterm babies. The Milk Bank Nigeria launched in August 2022 and as of Decemeber the organization had registered four donors who had supplied 33 liters of breast milk.

A resident of Kisumu, Kenya, educates her neighbors about the nutritional value of crickets. Community members are fighting malnutrition by adding the insects to food like porridge and bread.

CorpsAfrica gathers volunteers to train community members on how to construct and maintain a kitchen garden, full of a variety of vegetables, to provide families with nutritious food. Volunteers conduct door-to-door education campaigns and offer support to those starting their gardens. As of May 2020, the organization had helped create 760 kitchen gardens in an effort to fight malnutrition-related diseases and boost food security in the region.