Since 2018, Fondazione Pesenti has supported the nutritional center in Farim, Guinea-Bissau, which cares for about 2,000 children and their mothers in an area severely affected by child malnutrition.
Here are some photos of the preparation and shipment of the container that left for Guinea-Bissau along with a photovoltaic system co-sponsored (50%) by Fondazione Pesenti. The system will serve to make the entire mission, where the Papagaio nutritional center is located, independent in terms of lighting. The center is dedicated to Franca Natta Pesenti and Vincenzo Tamborrino.
The center was established to face the increasing costs of nutritional products for children and mothers, which are difficult to sustain. The Center’s staff therefore conceived a program of “alternative nutrition,” adequately enhancing products from Guinea-Bissau and lowering management costs. It was necessary to build a facility to be able to use local food resources, taking into account that the Center follows children from birth, and even before, up to 24 months.
According to data from the World Food Program, about 70% of the population in Guinea-Bissau lives below the poverty line, with high infant mortality and a chronic malnutrition rate throughout the country above 25%. Approximately 85% of the population depends on agriculture as their main source of livelihood, and cashew nuts constitute the main crop. Overall, 11% of families are not in a situation of “food security,” a percentage exceeding 50% in some areas of the country.
Food insecurity is linked to political instability, irregular rainfall, and the high volatility of prices both for imported rice and for local cashew production.
