BREEDLOVE program

A. Summary

By the end of September 2003 IRD received 75 MT of shelf-stable prepackaged foods from USAID under their ongoing agreement with Breedlove Dehydrated Foods organization. IRD requests 75 MT of Harvest Pro Vegetable Blend (Unflavored) – Product Code 304 for an twelve month period (September 30, 2003 to September 30, 2004) to distribute to socially and economically vulnerable Refugees in Vojvodina - North Serbia in order to assist them with basic and emergency nutritional in-take.

B. Operational Plan

IRD is aware of and supports USAID initiatives to increase its response to humanitarian needs. IRD is also doing this through its overall mission and goal in implementing relief and development projects. IRD’s mission is: To reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide them with the tools and/or resources needed to become self-sufficient.

With this in mind, IRD’s strategic goal is to: Implement targeted, cost-effective emergency relief and development aid programs that improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable groups.

IRD programs lend themselves to the use of shelf-stable pre-packaged products – both for emergency use and institutional feeding situations. Many of IRD’s program activities provide direct feeding in both emergency and institutional settings. In both situations, IRD has a strong distribution network with partner organizations and institutions.

Currently, IRD has completed the AltNet Small Business Development Project that targets vulnerable IDPs and Refugees. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia hosts the largest number of uprooted people in Europe. In Serbia, there are 377,431 registered refugees who fled the 1990s conflict and another 230,000 persons who were internally displaced by the war in Kosovo. There are few employment opportunities for refugees and IDPs; most survive on humanitarian assistance and seasonal day labor in the informal sector. According to the UN strategy for resolving the problems of refugees, expellees, and IDPs, approximately 80% of the refugees and IDPs are unemployed. Moreover, ICRC and WFP, which provide vulnerable refugees and IDPs the bulk of humanitarian food support, are drastically reducing their number of beneficiaries throughout Serbia. Especially hard hit by these drastic reductions in humanitarian assistance are those IDPs and refugees living in collective centers. Furthermore, the Serbian government is planning to close down and phase out the majority collective centers by December 2004. With limited opportunities for formal employment combined with the anticipated substantial decrease in social assistance programs, the ability to achieve household self-sufficiency will remain a pressing challenge for refugees and IDPs.

IRD will utilize Breedlove Dehydrated Food in two ways.

First, IRD will distribute Breedlove family food parcels to vulnerable IRD beneficiaries that have received micro-enterprise grants as limited-time food inputs that will serve as salary supplements to help IDP families transition from humanitarian food assistance to self-reliance. IRD will utilize Breedlove commodities to supplement wages during the start-up phases of micro-enterprise development. Through this activity, with the support of Breedlove salary supplements IDPs will have a greater chance of moving off social vulnerable lists by building their livelihood security through employment generation. During the AltNet pilot project, IRD utilized 153 metric tons of WFP food commodities as salary food supplements; however, WFP no longer has commodities available for these types of programs.

Secondly, IRD will also utilize Breedlove family food parcels to target the most vulnerable refugees living in collective centers. Persons living in collective centers experience some of the worst living conditions throughout Serbia. Currently there are approximately 22,156 IDPs and refugees living in collective centers in Serbia with approximately 7,170 in collective centers in Vojvodina- North Serbia. IRD proposes using Breedlove family food parcels as emergency distributions to all refugee and IDP collective centers in IRD’s targeted municipalities.

B. 1. Implementation Plan:

IRD requests 75 MT of dehydrated, shelf-stable products from Breedlove for its programs in the Balkans. The quantity, location and beneficiary group are provided in the table below:

The Breedlove products will significantly help improve the nutritional intake of IRD’s targeted beneficiaries. All Breedlove products will be utilized in conjunction with the implementation of the AltNet Program. There is no preference in the packaging required for these products. IRD remains flexible and will accept the Breedlove product in any packaging size available. IRD would require that the instructions for use be printed in the Serbian language on the product packaging for each shipment. The commodities will begin being distributed to Refugees and IDP in Voivodina- North Serbia within three months of shipping from the US to begin in March of 2004.

• The benefits resulting from the use of this product include:

• Food supplements will be added to distributions of emergency food and non-food aid to an approximate total of 3,370 Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Vojvodina over 8 months;
• The nutritional intake of approximately 3,370 Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Vojvodina (many of whom are women and children) will be improved.