ABSTRACT Community based nutrition education to improve food security and human development shall be initiated in Gulu district located in northern Uganda, 275 kilometers from Kampala. It shall address the following objectives; increment of food production and storage, amelioration of infant and child feeding, improvement of maternal feeding during pregnancy and lactation, promotion of good food preparation practices and demystification of bad socio-cultural practices responsible for malnutrition in the communities. The project’s activities will involve; promotion and implementation of drought resistant crops, community sensitization to grow indigenous fruit trees, creation of vegetable demonstration farms, fortification of local foods, creation of community nutrition education, assessment and food preparation demonstration centers, promotion of small scale irrigation schemes, capacity building of health practitioners and local leaders, identification and recruitment of mentor mothers in the communities to demonstrate proper nutrition practices to others, formation of women clubs to enlighten their knowledge on healthy maternal and infant feeding practices and family planning, dissemination of accurate and evidence based information on healthy nutrition through local radios and press, multi-sectoral collaboration with government and non-government institutions to promote the implementation the project’s activities. Finally routine monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the activities shall be done. FOOD FOR ALL [Human development]; [Food security] 1.
INTRODUCTION
AIMS
To increase food production and storage in Gulu district. To ameliorate infant and child feeding in Gulu district. To improve maternal feeding during pregnancy and lactation in Gulu district To promote good food preparation practices in Gulu district. To demystify bad socio-cultural practices responsible for malnutrition in Gulu district.
BACKGROUND Gulu district is located in the northern region of Uganda, 275 kilometers from Kampala capital city. The burden of malnutrition in this region is appalling; largely provoked by prolonged spells of drought, ignorance about healthy nutrition and food security that has hindered its development. The problem has also been attributed to the insurgency that occurred in this region for over two decades. Globally 1.5 million children die from hunger annually, 33 percent of the world population is starving. The total number of people in the world who suffer from hunger and malnutrition is 800 million. 98 percent of the population in developing countries does not have enough to eat. [6] Malnutrition rates in Uganda remain high due to multiple factors, such as traditional diets lacking in essential proteins, micronutrients and fats, and a relatively low rate of mothers who exclusively breastfeed their children. Uganda has one of the highest numbers of stunted children in the world, yet it is generally rated a “food secure” nation [2] Over 2 million children in Uganda are chronically malnourished; 33 percent stunted, 14 percent under weight and 5 percent wasted. Uganda loses over 1.8 trillion shillings every year due to malnutrition [1], [4] In developing countries every second a pregnant woman and about 40% of preschool children are estimated to be anaemic. The major health consequences include poor pregnancy outcome, impaired physical and cognitive development, increased risk of morbidity in children and reduced work productivity in adults. Anaemia contributes to 20% of all maternal deaths. [5] Figure 1 shows the effect of malnutrition throughout the life cycle on human development, malnourished children suffer from irreparable intellectual impairment and stunted physical growth. Hungry children make poor students and are prone to drop out of the educational system. Hungry and malnourished adults are unable to be fully productive workers and are more likely to be ill, increasing the strain on often overburdened health systems. Malnourished women give birth to low birth weight babies, transferring the broad economic disadvantages of malnutrition in their own lives to the next generation. The aggregate costs of nutrition insecurity at the national level impose a heavy burden on efforts to foster sustained economic growth and improved general welfare. [3]
2.
DESCRIPTION
The project will be implemented in the community following formal meeting with consent from the district administrators. The interventions required for the achievement of the objectives shall include the following;
Promotion and implementation of drought resistant crops such as sorghum, through supply of drought seeds in the community to improve sustainable livelihood. Sensitization of the communities to grow locally available and acceptable fruit trees. Creation of vegetable demonstration farms in the communities. Co-operation with local millers to fortify their flour with micronutrients like vitamin A, D, iron, and zinc. Creation of community nutrition education, assessment and food preparation demonstration centers for continuous growth monitoring and early identification of malnutrition cases with the aim of promoting infant and maternal feeding and thus their health and productivity. Promotion of small scale irrigation schemes using water from the local streams. Capacity building of health practitioners, village health teams, traditional birth attendants and leaders on the local council committees through routine sensitization workshops and training on food security issues and aspects of healthy nutrition. Mentor mothers with well-nourished children fed on locally available healthy foods shall be recruited from each of the villages in the communities and empowered with more knowledge and skills to demonstrate to other mothers. Women clubs shall be created in the communities through which gender matters shall be addressed under forums organized by women trained in nutrition programs to broaden their scope of knowledge on healthy nutrition. In the same clubs, various education topics such as healthy feeding during pregnancy, proper infant feeding, family planning and demonstrations of kitchen gardens with variety of fruits and vegetables to control micronutrient deficiencies shall be carried out. The women will be trained and facilitated with routine skills in income generating activities, for instance poultry keeping. Dissemination of accurate and evidence based nutrition information through the mass media such as local radios, newspapers shall be done to sensitize and mobilize communities about healthy nutrition and agricultural practices to promote food security and human development.
3.
Partnership shall be formed with ministry of health, ministry of agriculture and ministry of education, private sectors in the communities and other relevant stake holders to expedite and promote the implementation process of the project’s activities. Furthermore, it will enhance mutual understanding and co-operation through the integration among the various institutions in place. Demystification of ancient bad socio-cultural practices associated with the food cycle especially those that affect the vulnerable groups like children and women shall be addressed through periodic sensitization programs that shall be organized in the communities and also broadcasted on local radios. Quarterly peer review meetings on the progress of the project activities shall be conducted to monitor and evaluate the program. APPLICATION AND RESULTS
The study project will be used to generate information on the role and significance of nutrition education in improving food security and human development in the communities. Furthermore, the findings of the study will be used in documentation of the relevance of nutrition education in the control program of morbidity and mortality related to malnutrition. 4.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The results of the implementation process will be analyzed, evaluated, documented and forwarded to the local district authorities, government and non-governmental organizations for consideration, possible funding and application elsewhere in the nation and across borders where the program may benefit the people.
Acknowledgements I sincerely appreciate my team members, Nyangoma Janet and Nabusiita Jolly for their resourceful ideas in this project proposal.
REFERENCES [1] Cost of hunger 2013 (published June 18th 2013), http://www.wfp.org/stories/malnutrition‐costs‐uganda‐5‐cent‐gdp (accessed July 24th 2013) [2] FAO/IPC 2010 http://www.unicef.org/uganda/6774.html (accessed July 9th 2013) [3] Scaling up multi-sectoral efforts to establish a strong nutrition foundation for Uganda’s development, Uganda Nutrition Action Plan 2011-2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey, UDHS 2011 [4] Uganda Demographic Health Survey, UDHS 2011 th [5] World Health Organization‐Micronutrient deficiencies http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/ (accessed on June 14 2013)
[6] World Hunger statistics, available on http://www.statisticbrain.com/world‐hunger‐statistics/ (accessed on July 24th 2013)
.