Nutritious Amazon: food security with a child-centered and local approach

• In Loreto, Save the Children and INFANT have launched a new project to ensure access to nutritious food and healthy practices, led by children and driven by women producers.

Loreto is one of the regions in Peru with the widest gaps in poverty, nutrition, and health. In 2024, chronic malnutrition affected 21.8% of children under five, while childhood anemia exceeded 50%—both far above the national average. In the district of Belén, where most homes are shared by several families and lack basic services, children face constant risks of illness and undernutrition.

In this challenging context, Amazonía Nutritiva (Nutritious Amazon) was created—a project developed by Save the Children and INFANT together with local communities. The initiative seeks to reduce food insecurity through sustainable, culturally relevant, and resilient solutions adapted to the Amazon environment. The project’s name was chosen by the participating children themselves, reflecting their deep connection to their territory.

The strategy combines three key components: strengthening livelihoods through home gardens and small livestock farming; promoting nutrition and health education for children, adolescents, and their families; and supporting women producers who lost their crops after recent floods. All of this is grounded in community leadership and children’s active participation.

As part of the intervention, families will enhance traditional yet innovative ancestral practices—such as breeding earthworms to feed chickens—complemented by technical assistance. The project will also promote the rehabilitation of agricultural plots affected by river flooding, providing inputs and training to help restore local food production.

Children’s participation is a cornerstone of the project. They will form brigades to promote the right to food and community health, and will take part in workshops where they learn to prepare healthy recipes using ingredients available in their own communities.

Women farmers will play a leading role in rebuilding household and community economies. Along with technical assistance, they will strengthen their organizational and advocacy skills, becoming local leaders and examples of resilience in the face of climate emergencies.

With Amazonía Nutritiva, Save the Children and INFANT aim not only to address urgent needs, but also to build lasting local capacities that enable communities to sustain access to adequate food. The initiative has the potential to be replicated as a model of food security with child participation and a strong territorial approach.