Botstiber Fund for Food Security
Dave Elder (center, Foundation consultant) and Terry Kline (Foundation administrator) meet with villagers in Myanmar to review the progress of the Foundation’s work.
As a boy, Dietrich Botstiber personally witnessed the suffering of civilians in Central Europe during and after World War I. The war and its aftermath displaced millions of people and wiped out many traditional ways of life. Young Dietrich saw strangers standing near his home, mute, helpless, begging for food. These vivid images stayed with him throughout his life and shaped his worldview.
Now, the Botstiber Fund for Food Security works to reduce poverty and malnutrition among the poorest and most marginalized of the world’s people, especially those who are at particular risk because of conflict or other cruel conditions. The Botstiber Fund works with local partners to develop programs that will alleviate poverty and hunger in the short term and create the conditions for lasting economic development in the long term.
Most recently, the Botstiber Fund for Food Security has supported projects in Myanmar in Southeast Asia.
Lashio Integrated Food Security Project, Myanmar, 2009-2014
Villagers contributed hundreds of hours ofvolunteer labor to lay pipes bringing water to theirvillage from miles away.
This ongoing project aims to improve food security, health, and economic development in Lashio Township in the Northern Shan State of Myanmar. Until recently, Lashio Township experienced crippling armed conflict, and its population continues to suffer from extreme poverty and shortages of food and water. The Botstiber Fund for Food Security and CARE Myanmar are working together in 24 villages in Lashio on a series of integrated projects, which include building clean water systems; distributing seeds and fertilizers; developing seed banks; constructing compost pits and sustainable demonstration farms; and offering grants for small business development and agricultural expansion—reaching approximately 1,200 households over five years.
Rural Rehabilitation and Development Assistance Program,
Myanmar, 2007-2009
Children can stay in school when they don't have
to carry water to their homes every day or drop out to work for a pittance.
The Botstiber Fund for Food Security supported community-initiated development projects in ten of the poorest villages in Kachin State, Kayah State and Sagaing Division in Myanmar. The project was managed by The Metta Development Foundation, a Myanmar non-governmental organization, with a well-established program of training villagers to identify, plan, and implement small local projects to improve daily life. Villagers used funds to build irrigation systems, farms, and pedestrian bridges; start buffalo raising collectives; and diversify and increase the food they produced for sale and consumption.
Lashio Livelihood Improvement Project, Myanmar, 2008-2009
Where health care is not available, better
sanitation and hygiene become urgent.
The Lashio Livelihood Improvement Project worked in 15 villages in Lashio Township in the Northern Shan State of Myanmar to increase food production, diversify income generation activities, and improve access to safe water. The project reached over 5,000 people from more than 1,000 households and by the end of the project period, over 200 households received home garden training, over 200 households developed winter gardens and extended their growing season, over 400 households developed compost pits to use in farms or home gardens, over 200 households started raising livestock, over 400 households improved access to safe water, and over 800 households improved health knowledge and practice.
Lashio Community Managed Water Project, Myanmar, 2007-2008
Nothing improves village health more than a clean
water supply available year round.
The Lashio Community Managed Water Project worked in 14 villages in Lashio Township to install clean water systems, build household water containers, construct latrines, and improve knowledge of water hygiene and disease prevention. The project worked with 2,800 people from over 700 households, and by the end of the project period, over 2,000 people had improved access to safe water. In addition, women and children from over 500 families significantly reduced the amount of time they spent fetching water.
The Foundation’s projects in Myanmar are based on humanitarian principles. The Foundation is strictly non-political. It takes no stance on political issues. The Foundation operates under a license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. When required, the Foundation exercises expenditure responsibility over projects in Myanmar by periodic visits to the country and financial audits of the projects.
While the Botstiber Foundation does not solicit charitable contributions, the Foundation welcomes inquiries from nonprofit organizations and individuals interested in supporting humanitarian work in Myanmar who might want to consider partnering with the Foundation in Myanmar. Foundation representatives are available to consult with donor organizations about the Foundation’s work in Myanmar. Please contact: Carlie Numi, Deputy Administrator, The Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation, PO Box 1819, Media, PA 19063; email: cnumi@botstiber.org; phone: 610.566-3375; fax: 610.566-3376