Zagazig, Egypt - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Egypt in collaboration with the National Council for Women (NCW) executed a series of Training of Trainers (ToT) trainings for the NCW Sharqia office staff and selected leaders from the “rural pioneers” program.

The main objective was to raise awareness on the proper planning, handling and storage practices to reduce household food waste. This activity is under the framework of project “Food Loss and Waste and Value Chain Development for Food Security in Egypt”, which is funded by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The ToT training sessions included a variety of topics under the umbrella of reducing household food waste; including, an introduction to food waste and its causes, tips to reduce household food waste, proper storage methods for organic and dry products, proper storage methods for each of the five food groups, food processing and preservation, food safety, how to recycle leftovers, portion control and understanding date labels.

The ToT trainings also included sessions on nutrition, care for household livestock and poultry, and food processing at home which included products such as fruit products, dried products, processed meat, pickles, and dairy products. Moreover, trainers were also trained on the appropriate grocery shopping practices, personal hygiene, and the importance and proper method of having a clean and sterile kitchen.

"The main objectives of these training programs is to raise awareness about food waste and teach the right methods to reduce waste in homes, considering healthy diets, food safety and hygiene, and managing food expenses. Another goal is to produce scientific resources for dissemination and use in a wider range," said Hussein Gadain, FAO representative in Egypt.

“Members of the National Council for Women as well as rural pioneers from the health, agriculture and community solidarity sector participated in the training sessions that took place in the NCW’s office in Sharqia. They all gathered under one objective, to improve the economic and environmental efficiency of the agricultural food sector, through the development of food value chains. This activity lies under the NCW’s framework of empowering women, raising awareness and rationalizing consumption,” said Dr. Maya Morsy, President of the NCW.

Participants of both ToT trainings reached approximately 60 women, following which each trainer will disseminate the information to a minimum of 10 women, which will amount to 600 women trained by trainers on proper practices to reduce household food waste.

The training succeeded in providing a training manual for the trainers, as well as brochures for the women, which included important tips and practices, as well as recipes for leftovers and food processing. Posters were also provided to be hung in health clinics, and common gathering areas. The first ToT training was conducted from 31 October to 1 November, and the second training is being implemented on the 7th and 8th of November 2018.

The project "Food Loss and Waste Reduction and Value Chain Development for Food Security in Egypt and Tunisia" is implemented by FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. It takes a value chain approach to reduce food loss and waste in order to improve the economic and environmental efficiency of food value chains. In Egypt, the project has been working with the tomato and grapes value chains in Nubaria, and tomato value chain in Sharqia. It has been successfully providing technical, infrastructural and marketing support to farmers' associations and stakeholders in these target value chains.