A new boost has been given to the fight against child malnutrition in the rural area of Bingerville, Ivory Coast, thanks to a €7,000 contribution transferred to the ADESC Association, which has been dedicated to improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable people since 1984.
This new funding tranche aims to support an important community development initiative that includes training activities, screening, and nutritional rehabilitation for children and their families.
The project lasts 12 months, focusing on targeted and sustainable interventions to address acute and chronic malnutrition among the most vulnerable. The direct beneficiaries are mainly 200 women with limited economic resources and 300 children from 0 to 5 years, but overall more than 4,000 people are involved, reflecting the goal of improving community health.
“With this contribution, we can intensify our operations to combat child malnutrition, a problem widely and frequently associated with the poor knowledge of mothers who traditionally take care of their children’s nutrition. Often, the absence of basic education on nutrition, exacerbated by poverty, makes them unable to recognize the signs of malnutrition in their children and to intervene effectively to prevent it”.
Among the planned activities are theoretical and practical training for mothers on nutrition and disease prevention, purchasing and distribution of materials; in addition, specific actions are implemented for the screening of malnutrition and the nutritional rehabilitation of children identified as malnourished. The Ilomba dispensary is the reference center for these activities, already having a long history of service and trust in the community.
“After the breastfeeding period, mothers begin to feed newborns with cassava porridge, the primary food for the poorest families and the first solid introduced in the infants’ diet. However, not all newborns tolerate this food and, even surviving, they risk incurring serious nutritional deficiencies. The resulting physical fragility makes newborns particularly vulnerable to further health complications. Often, the economic conditions of the families do not allow access to the necessary care: many do not have the financial ability to bring their children to the hospital for the care they need. This is why every euro invested in this project is a step toward a healthier and more promising future for our children.”
The initiative, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 3, highlights ADESC’s and the community’s commitment to ensuring a lasting impact on the health and well-being of the children of Bingerville.
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