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Blogs > Laos News > Telling quote about how ignorance can make humanitarian work do more harm than good
By admin on Tue 22 Sep. 2009 15:31 ICT

Telling quote about how ignorance can make humanitarian work do more harm than good

"Krahn's concerns were borne out last year when donor agencies including the World Food Programme, filled a major wetland in southern Laos in order to increase rice production. What they failed to question was the role the wetlands had in local diets.

"They saw a swamp; the women saw snails, fish, water weeds, frogs, eels, and edible roots to be eaten and bartered for rice. Filling the wetland resulted in protein and micronutrient malnutrition for the rice farmers, whose supply of other foods had gone, and hunger and dependency for the people who neither had goods to barter nor food to eat. "

From an article about diet (focusing on post-partum food taboos) on IPS News (external link)

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