KENYA – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched the National Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems (NSASF) Training Package in Nairobi, Kenya, to bridge the gap on the lack of nationally contextualized guidelines on entry points for nutrition improvement through agriculture and food systems.
FAO developed the package in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Ministry of Health, the Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute, and other partners under the Food and Nutrition Linkages Technical Working Group (FNLTWG).
The Technical Manual and Facilitators Guide, which make up the training package, are intended to provide policymakers, program planners, and technical officers working in various sectors who directly or indirectly improve nutrition with knowledge and skills on how to develop and successfully implement nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food system investments.
“If we put a lens on agrifood systems actions to leverage on their full potential to deliver adequate safe and nutritious foods, we will have addressed key underlying causes of malnutrition. FAO has been working with the government to build institutional capacities to transform agrifood systems to deliver on healthy diets,” said Hamisi Williams, FAO Assistant Representative in charge of programmes.
He added, “This training package is a technical guide on entry points on how agriculture can optimally contribute to nutrition; for instance, is through diversified production that we achieve diversified diets, one health approach helps prevent disease which hinders potential to achieve optimal nutrition, agriculture incomes to improve access to nutritious foods and health care.”
Kenya chose four routes to sustainable food systems as a result of the inclusive Food System Summit talks in 2021, including youth involvement in food system transformation, leveraging the potential of digital innovation, women’s empowerment, and providing all Kenyans with a variety of meals.
In accordance with its mandate and to support this commitment and the 2030 Agenda, FAO wants to change agri-food systems to be MORE effective, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable for greater food production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better living for everyone while leaving no one behind.
To come up with the training package, the parties developed the technical and facilitation content and collation of the 28 case studies (From Food and Nutrition Linkages Technical Working Group partners).
This was followed by an online technical review by partners and the incorporation of the inputs, the development of the draft PowerPoint presentations, and pretesting of the training package in a workshop setting and review based on pretesting results.
After validation, some editorial, and design work, the training was accredited by the NSAFS-TP through Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute (KNDI), published, and launched.
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