Feeding Programme, Comedores Infantiles, Costa Rica
Established in 2005, The Feeding Centre Network in Costa Rica, intervenes in situations of child malnutrition and works to prevent its occurrence.
Underpinning all the work carried out by the network is a commitment to the holistic development of children at risk.
Marginalised rural and urban communities linked to the network have critically poor standards of nutrition, health, living, employment and education. Consequently, many families struggle to know where their next meal will come from. Poor availability and lack of access to food means that malnutrition is a constant and very real threat . Family unity is fragile. Children under six and women (particularly those who are pregnant or who head up households) are most at risk from malnutrition.
In the face of increasing poor nutrition of children from these families, the network has designed a programme that will cover the primary needs of children, including healthy eating etc, which also encourages the direct participation of families in the community. The network thus serves both to transform the nutritional wellbeing of the children and also raises awareness among families and communities as to the importance of food security and the basic causes of malnutrition.
The programme has 11 feeding centres linked to churches from marginalised communities. These communities have a significant number of female-headed households all of whom live in extreme poverty.
