Banxon Jawekiati

What We Did

Our nutrition project aims to increase nutritional wellbeing and food sovereignty. We are planting crops such as plantain, camu camu, and yucca on land that communities have donated to their schools. We are working with the school students and Mothers Clubs on nutrition workshops, in which we teach gardening methods, discuss nutritional needs, and develop delicious and healthy recipes that are based on traditional foods and crops. Women in the communities we work with are given seeds of traditional crops and green vegetables that they have learned about in their nutrition workshops to create their own vegetable gardens. Once a week, participating women meet to cook nutritious dishes for all the children and young people in the community.

Why is Nutrition important?

The Shipibo traditionally depended on a diet of freshwater fish, yucca, and plantain as well as fruits and animals of the forest. In many rural communities, this remains the case. At the same time, their diet has undergone a nutritional transition and now includes oil, huge quantities of white rice, refined flour products, crackers and pasta, refined sugar, and evaporated milk. Factory-farmed chicken is cheaper than fish for those without a fisherman in the family. This has resulted in nutritional deficiencies, especially in children, which lead to high levels of illnesses such as diabetes, and weight problems among the adult population. The sense of abundance that used to be present around food has now turned to a sense of scarcity. It is ever more important to regenerate this sense of abundance by giving people the tools and knowledge they need to feed themselves and their families and ensure healthy communities.