PROJECT #149
Project #149 | Fighting Malnutrition with Biofortified Corn in Guatemala
Our partnership with Semilla Nueva
Malnutrition impacts all areas of life. It causes sickness and disease, leads to less school attendance, lower future incomes, and overall economic instability. Malnutrition keeps children from reaching their full potential and in Guatemala, 47% of all children are chronically malnourished due to years of poor nutrition–causing stunted growth and brain development.
One Day’s Wages’ partnership with Semilla Nueva expanded their biofortified seed production and sales to reach more families throughout Guatemala with more nutritious corn. Semilla Nueva produces and sells (non-GMO) corn seeds that have 2.5 times the quality protein and 50% more zinc than conventional corn, addressing key nutritional deficiencies in Guatemala. But most importantly, these seeds help farmers earn more by giving them large harvests at lower costs– the driving reason why farmers like and buy this seed.
Our collective impact
Farmers and Their Family Members Impacted
Seeds Planted by Farmers
Bags of Biofortified Maize Sold at Farmers Market
Meet Manuel
Manuel is a young boy from Chiquimula. Like many children in Guatemala, his corn based diet puts him at risk for malnutrition, which can lead to permanent physical and cognitive damage. He lives with his grandmother Katalina, who began working as a corn farmer 11 years ago when her husband passed away. Initially, Katalina used traditional seed without any nutritional benefits. Encouraged by F3’s (Semilla Nueva’s commercial brand) cost advantage, Katalina decided to switch to F3 and began growing biofortified corn for her family. Manuel is now consuming corn with 19% more iron, 35% more zinc, and two times the quality protein content than conventional corn. Statistically, he’s less likely to experience malnutrition and more likely to excel in school and into adulthood. Access to better nutrition is linked to better lifetime educational and economic outcomes. Manuel is one of the over 11,000 children under five in Guatemala that Semilla Nueva has reached with biofortified corn to improve nutrition intake.
Thank you for making this possible!
Our movement is grassroots, to us that not only means the work on the ground is led by local leaders with the support of the community, but it also means that we raise the funds for our projects through everyday donors just like you. In addition to all the donors that gave $25, $100, or $250 and the campaigners that ran a race or donated their birthday to raise funds, we also want to thank our generous business, school, and faith sponsors who believed in our work and joined the movement.
If you want to support future projects like this you can make a donation to our global hunger fund.
One Day's Wages is a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty
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