The FAO Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge (MUCH) project, in collaboration with the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) of the Ministry of Food, organized a 5-day training course on “dietary diversity as an indicator of healthy diets and nutrition: methodologies and application in food and nutrition security policies in Bangladesh”. 

The training course provided both theoretical and practical learning for the participants who are engaged in the planning, implementation and monitoring of food and nutrition security activities addressed in the National Nutrition Services (NNS), National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN), National Food Policy Plan of Action, and the Second Country Investment Plan (CIP2) for prioritizing use of dietary diversity indicators in monitoring and evaluating nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.  It also helps to track indicators that inform the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Two field visits were organized – one to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit (NRU), ICDDR,B to observe the dietary diversity of the foods served to acutely malnourished children and to BIRDEM to get practical insights on the dietary diversity and nutritional adequacy of the normal diets served. 

Training participants included representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Food, Health and Family Welfare, Fisheries and Livestock, Planning, Disaster Management and Relief, Social Welfare, Water Resources, and Women and Children Affairs, Department of Livestock Services and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, as well as the Centre for Woman and Child Health, and Save the Children. Resource persons included experts from MUCH, Institute of Nutrition and Food Science (INFS), Dhaka University, ICCDR,B, IFPRI, BIRDEM, FPMU and a Tufts University/Helen Keller International (HKI) Project.

On the final day, there was a vibrant panel discussion on “dietary diversity through nutrition-sensitive policies and interventions in Bangladesh: how can they help accelerate progress in improving nutrition?”.  The panel members included Mr. Shahabuddin Ahmed, Secretary-in-Charge, Ministry of Food; Mr. David Doolan, FAO Representative a.i. in Bangladesh; Mr. Balai Krishna Hazra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Mr. Subash Chandra Sarkar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and BNNC; Ms. Laila Jesmin, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs; Mr. Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Chairman (Additional Secretary), Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, Ministry of Food; Mr. Towfiqul Arif, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; and Ms. Naaz Farhana Ahmed, Representative, the Federation of the Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).  

Participants rated the topics covered during the training highly relevant for food policy making in Bangladesh, as well as providing useful conceptual background for their jobs and improving their comprehension of the basis of dietary diversity. Pre- and post-training test scores revealed that the end of training knowledge had increased by over three fourths from the baseline.

MUCH is financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union (EU). The project is aimed at strengthening the enabling environment for eradicating food insecurity and malnutrition in Bangladesh.