Thailand plans to be a global knowledge hub for food security

Wednesday 03 April 2019 09:42
Thailand will propose to World Food Programme (WFP) to be a center of excellence for school lunch and school milk program, sharing successful cases from the country to the world.

Dr. Thanawat Tiensin, Thailand's permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, urges for public-private partnership to end global food insecurity, especially malnutrition among students, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

He recently discussed with Chareon Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) and CP Foundation for Rural Life to exchange ideas and expertise on school feeding project.

"Successful schemes such as CP Foods and CP Foundation for Rural Life's "Raising Layer for Student's Lunch" and CP Livestock Myanmar's "Milk for Kids" projects are the keys to achieve food self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner," he said "These projects can be a guideline to end hunger across the world as well as bolster Thailand reputation as a model for food security."

Mr. Supree Baosingsauy, General Manager of CP Foundation for Rural Life, said the foundation has been working together with CP Foods on "Raising Layer for Student's Lunch" project since 1989 to reduce malnutrition among students in remote areas.

The company has provided facilities, feed, and knowledge on layer farming to 700 schools nationwide, helping over 155,000 students to receive sufficient amount of protein.

Beyond food security, the project has cultivated Social Enterprise Practices, encouraging students to further develop their farm management skills. The students are able to produce other food supplies such as fish and vegetables by themselves, while surplus products are sold to nearby communities for extra earning.

Mr. Sutee Smudraprabhud, Assistant Vice President - Responsibility and Sustainability Development of CP Foods, said the company leveraged our commitment in nutritional food production and consumption through "CP Foods Growing Happiness, Growing Futures" Project.

CP Foods' employees are encouraged to pass on farming knowledge and work together with surrounding communities to promote food consumption with quality, safety and nutrition, as well as stimulating continuous knowledge sharing.

Outside the country, Milk for Kids was launched by Myanmar CP Livestock in 2017 to provide quality dairy products for students from schools nearby the company's operations.

Myanmar CP Livestock has funded local farms and Milk plants, which distributing pasteurized milk to 5,000 students in Yangon, Naypyidaw and Mandalay, creating jobs for local farmers in addition to supporting the student nutrition.