International Year of Pulses celebrations culminate with awareness raising activities in Brava and Boa Vista Islands
Praia.- The International Year of Pulses (IYP) commemorative activities in Cabo Verde have come to the end with an intense program during the last weeks of the year. An Awareness Raising Campaign was organized during December 2016, bringing together schools’ teachers and managers, community leaders and local stakeholders to discuss on the benefits of the pulses.
The Campaign aimed at sensitizing children and young people about the importance of healthy nutrition habits, including the regular consumption of local pulses, as well as explaining its benefits for the environment, including for the biodiversity, climate change effects mitigation, agriculture water saving, and its value for the soils, trash reduction and animals feeding.
As part of the Campaign, FAO promoted two Seminars on the IYP on the islands of Brava and Boa Vista, with the support of SYAH Cabo Verde and the Nutritionists National Association, and in partnership with the Government of Cabo Verde, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Municipal Governments of the islands where the activities took place.
Participants who attended the seminar in each island committed to convey and disseminate relevant information on the benefits of pulses to local schools and community centers. In particular, participants from Boa Vista elaborated a follow-up plan which includes a Pulses Fair and Exhibition to be organized in the high school of Sal Rei City in 2017 to disseminate publicly the information from the Seminar and sensitize students and families about the benefits of a regular consumption of pulses.
In parallel, consultative meetings were also organized in these islands with the Delegations of the Ministries of Education, Health and Agriculture and Environment, as well as with the Municipal Governments and other key stakeholders, including local NGOs and the Community Radio Stations.
Two in-deep programs about the IYP were recorded with interviews and information on pulses based on specific IYP materials, one in the Community Radio of Espargos, in Sal Island, and another in the Community Radio Voice of Boa Vista, in Boa Vista Island.
In addition, some of the IYP information materials were developed and adapted to be used as educational resource material for teachers to sensitize students. These materials were distributed to Primary and Secondary Schools in the islands of Santiago, Maio, Sal, Brava and Boa Vista. Additional requests for materials from other schools have been received.
Previously, in October during the World Food Day, a session about the IYP took place with the participation of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Gilberto Silva, and the FAO Representative in Cabo Verde, Rémi Nono Womdim, as well as several policymakers and key stakeholders from Government, Civil Society, universities and other United Nations agencies. The country engagement has been crucial to continue organizing more activities on the IYP. As a result of this engagement, the Government of Cabo Verde has scheduled a National Forum on Pulses for early 2017 that will be convened with the support of FAO.
Contact
Antonio Palazuelos Prieto
Communication Specialist FAO Cabo Verde