Project Name：Horticulture and Nutrition Enhancement Project (Palau)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Asia-Pacific, Palau

Project Description：Malnutrition and obesity are widespread among the population of Palau. A dependence on a Western diet and a low intake of fresh vegetables have both contributed to these health issues. Many factors have led to these changes in dietary habits, including the low price of imported foods, the shortage of domestic vegetables, poor eating habits and the lack of health knowledge. Therefore, this three-year project focuses on nutrition and health education in schools as well as the sustainable development of vegetable and fruit production. It aims to establish healthy eating habits and sustainable production of local vegetables and fruits in the fragile island, eventually leading to a health improvement for Palau citizens. The main content of this project will include:

1. Assisting school farms to be able to produce over 15 varieties of vegetables and fruits year-round.
2. Developing cultivation techniques that extend to more than 30 cultivars of vegetables and fruits.
3. Holding a cooking competition and developing a local vegetable cookbook based on the recipes from the competition.
4. Developing a Year-round Guide to Growing Fruit and Vegetables.
5. Submitting a Palau Horticulture and Nutrition Investigation Report.

To watch the video made by the TaiwanICDF: Horticulture and Nutrition Enhancement Project (Palau)

Project No：TT-310-2016-022

Implementation Start Date：2016-01-01

Implementation End Date：2018-12-31

Project Objectives：The objectives of this project are:

1. Promote agriculture and food education courses.
   1. Assist 10 school farms to be able to produce over 15 varieties of vegetables and fruits year-round.
   2. Provide vegetables for over 150 students’ school lunch meals every year.
   3. Hold a field trip to the TTM demonstration farm for Palau’s teachers and students every school term.
   4. Hold a cooking class every year to train cooks from the school kitchen.
2. Develop cultivation techniques that extend to diverse vegetables and fruits.
   1. Cultivate over 30 varieties of vegetables and fruits; produce 202,200 seedlings of taro, sweet potato and cassava.
   2. Produce two, six and 12 tons of vegetables and fruits each year to serve 150, 600 and 800 students respectively.
   3. Hold taro production and compost training courses.
   4. Produce over 600 cubic meters of organic compost.
   5. Establish a new partnership with a local research center or international NGO.
3. Complete the Palau Horticulture and Nutrition Investigation Report.

Executing Agency：1.Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau
2.Bureau of Agriculture (Republic of Palau)

Current Progress：

To the end of December 2018, the following activities have been completed:

1. Produced a total of 30,842.8 kg vegetables and fruits.
2. Produced a total of 237,002 taro seedlings, 3,992 sweet potato seedlings, and 8,185 tapioca seedlings.
3. Produced 623 cubic meters of compost.
4. Assisted 10 school farms to be able to produce vegetables and fruits.
5. Held three cooking classes to train cooks from the school kitchen.
6. Held three cooking competitions.
7. Held three taro production and compost training courses.
8. Held eight horticultural cultivation workshops.
9. Held five cooking demonstration and nutrition promotion activities.

Project Performance：http://sys.icdf.org.tw/GipEdit/CuHtmlEdit_Other.asp?htx_fieldname=currentProgress&icuitem=36091

Project Contact：Elisa,Yu-chi CHANG

Phone：886-2-28732323 Ext.221

E-mail：yc.chang@icdf.org.tw

Signing Date：2015-12-09

Projected Benefits：It is expected that the project will:

1. Make school children aware of the benefits of consuming local vegetables and fruits.
2. Build the capacity of Palau farmers in sustainable agriculture production.
3. Strengthen local partnerships in Palau.
4. Promote economic growth by increasing transparency of local market information.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau