Devex Opinion Piece Highlights Impacts of the Climate Crisis on Nutrition
Chief Program Officer Shawn Baker and Transforming Lives Through Nutrition Program Director Philomena Orji recently published an opinion piece on Devex about the most relentless consequence of climate change – malnutrition – and what the international community can do to address it. The climate crisis is driving a nutrition crisis as increasingly extreme weather creates […]
Empowering Teen Girls to Lead Nutritional Change in their Communities
At just 13 years old, Wademu Ngmarju has made a name for herself in her community as an expert in farming and nutrition. She grows food in a home garden, raises chickens to earn income, and mentors other teen girls in farming and nutrition. She started on this journey in 2022 when Helen Keller Intl […]
Speaking Technically: How the Climate Crisis is Driving a Nutrition Crisis
We recently spoke to Chief Program Officer Shawn Baker and Transforming Lives Program Director Philomena Orji about how the climate crisis is driving a nutrition crisis worldwide. Shawn leads Helen Keller’s efforts to strengthen food and health systems using scientifically proven solutions that are feasible, scalable, and equitable. Previously Helen Keller’s Country Director for Nigeria, […]
Climate-Smart Agriculture Supports a Community
Although Maliatou Nignan and her family had been farming for years, they still struggled to grow enough food to feed themselves or earn an income. As Maliatou says, they “worked hard on arid lands” in their community of Zoro in southern Burkina Faso. “We cultivated vegetables and white-fleshed sweet potatoes, but the yields were below our […]
Farming Expert Helps Displaced Nigerian Women Cultivate Food Security and Livelihoods
Rebecca Clement has been cultivating nutritious fruits and vegetables since she was a child. Growing up in a family of farmers in Garta, Nigeria, a small village in Adamawa state near the border with Cameroon, Rebecca began learning how to prepare soil for planting, to space and rotate crops, and to control diseases and pests […]
Building Upon Our Legacy of Health, Nutrition, and Vision
Over the past several decades, Helen Keller Intl has continued to expand our ability to help people around the world create lasting change in their own lives. Today, we reach more than 70 million children and family members across 20 countries with the essential building blocks of sound health, good nutrition, and clear vision. We […]
2023 Year in Review: Forces for Good [Photo Essay]
Every day, members of the Helen Keller Intl community are choosing to be forces for good. Community health heroes, entrepreneurs, parents, youth, and Helen Keller staff work tirelessly to help improve health, nutrition, and vision for people in their communities, countries, and around the world. We’re highlighting some of the incredible contributions made by members […]
Cultivating Economic Security through Farming in Nepal
In Nepal’s remote, mountainous Taplejung district, Pemba Doma Sherpa harvests vegetables from her fields on a steep hillside. She sells her produce at the local market twice a week, providing enough money to support her family and send her two daughters to private school. However, Pemba’s finances weren’t always so secure. She used to work […]
Sweet Potatoes: Nutrition, Economic Security, and Inspiration
In her village in west central Burkina Faso, 34-year-old Kacoara Dahourou, a mother of four, knows firsthand the hardships of financial insecurity and hunger. Growing nutritious foods in a region that receives little rain – and finding affordable foods close to home – has long been a challenge for her. She also harbors a lingering fear that […]
Empowering Mothers: Transforming Nutrition in Rural Communities in Sierra Leone
In rural communities across Sierra Leone, limited access to nutritious and diverse food has been a constant concern. 33-year-old Mariama Koroma knows this reality all too well. A farmer and single mother of three children, Mariama lives in Rogbere village in Tonkolili, Sierra Leone’s northern province. Like many other mothers in her community, she has […]