On June 29th, 2024, the Ban Boung Phao health centre (Vientiane Province) hosted the Ban Boung Phao Food Festival, in celebration of the completion of two IRD nutrition-related projects: the IMMANA and NutriLao projects.
© Marco J Haenssgen
The festival was attended by more than 200 local villagers together with stakeholders from village and district authorities. It received support from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the University of Health Sciences (Vientiane City), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the Pierre Fabre Foundation and the IRD.
I hope that the Ban Boungphao Food Festival does merely not mark the conclusion of our projects but rather represents a milestone in a long journey of cooperation and solidarity between us, our partners, and the communities. - Dr Marco J Haenssgen, international coordinator of the IMMANA project
Many actors congratulated the initiative. Mr Supjarlearn Phimmachan (Head of Thoulakhom District Office) affirmed his will that the NutriLao and IMMANA projects can “be continued and expanded in the future (…) and in these villages.” Dr Ding Leuangsay (Head of Thoulakhom District Hospital), Dr Sabrina Locatelli (IRD Representative in Lao), Mrs Ildikó Hámos (WFP) as well as Dr Marco J Haenssgen and Ms Nutcha Charoenboon (both IMMANA project representatives, Chiang Mai University, Thailand) also shared welcoming remarks. Mr Keekham Vongsay, Vice deputy of Thoulakhom District, attended the event.
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
The Food Festival revolved around a cooking competition and cooking demonstrations involving eight two-person villager duos as well as the professional chefs Mr Amkha Dosada and Mrs Khonsavanh Inthavong. Using local recipes, the villagers competed for the esteem of seven judges with dishes as diverse as papaya salad, bamboo soup or dry curry. Local market vendors offered their produce not only for the visitors of the event, but also supplied the competing teams with ingredients.
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Ern Nutcha Charoenboon
© Marco J Haenssgen
Alongside prizes for the winners, special gifts were prepared by Mai Savanh Lao and AUF for the winners of the cooking competition, the chiefs and the local policy stakeholders attending the event. The University of Health Sciences further offered maternal and child healthcare advice during event, while students from AUF’s “Club Leader Étudiants Francophones” (CLEF) provided additional documentation.
LMI PRESTO provided support, as food choices and the health of populations depend on the balance between human, animal and environmental health. Preventing the emergence of zoonotic diseases also requires a better understanding of hygiene rules and food consumption.
Dance performances by children, WFP interactive activities for children and an exhibition of photographs from the NutriLao and IMMANA research activities rounded off the activities of the day.
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© Marco J Haenssgen
© IRD
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The IMMANA project
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The IMMANA-funded project “Activity Spaces and Household Exclusion from Food Environments” is led by the University of Reading (UK) in collaboration with IRD Laos and Chiang Mai University (Thailand) and supported by a two-year £249,000 award from the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) programme – coordinated by the London School for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and co-funded with UK Aid from the UK government through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project studied food environments, food security, and the daily food practices of 240 households across eight rural and urban communities in a comparative study between Vientiane Province (Lao PDR) and Chiang Mai Province (Thailand).
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The NutriLao project
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The NutriLao project – also known by its official title as “Development of locally produced, ready to use supplements to improve nutritional status of vulnerable groups in Lao” – is led by IRD researchers, accompanied by researchers from the University of Health Sciences (Lao PDR) and Chiang Mai University (Thailand). NutriLao involved the development of nutritional cereal bars (produced by the social enterprise Mai Savanh Lao), its acceptability testing, and a 4-month efficacy trial with 300 female participants to assess if the micronutrient-enriched food bars help improve their haemoglobin concentrations, anaemia status, and micronutrient status (e.g. zinc and vitamin A). The study was made possible thanks to the IMMANA project research team and the medical team of Dr Vatanaphone Latthaphasavang with whom the researchers cooperate closely. This project is supported by the Fonds d'Innovation pour le Développement (FID).
Contact list:
NutriLao
Jacques Berger, research director (IRD)
Eric Deharo, research director (IRD)
Franck Wieringa, research director (IRD)
IMMANA
Eric Deharo, research director (IRD)
Marco Haenssgen, Assistant Professor in Social Science and Development (Chiang Mai University)
