FAO Supports development and launch of Nutrition -Sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems Training Package
One of the impediments for agrifood systems to optimally deliver healthy diets in Kenya, is lack of nationally contextualized guidelines on entry points for nutrition improvement through agriculture and food systems. To bridge this gap, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute (KNDI) developed and officially launched the National Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems Training Package in Nairobi.
The training package which consists of the Technical Manual and the Facilitators Guide, aim to equip policy makers, programme planners and technical officers working in different sectors, that contribute to improvement of nutrition, directly or indirectly, with knowledge and skills on how to formulate and successfully implement nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems investments.
Following the inclusive Food System Summit dialogues in 2021, Kenya adopted four pathways to sustainable food systems including, youth involvement in food systems transformation, harnessing the power of digital innovation, women empowerment and nourishing all Kenyan people with diverse diets. To contribute to this commitment, and to the 2030 Agenda, and in line with its mandate, FAO aims to transform agri-food systems to be MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life while leaving no one behind.
“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 transforms agrifood systems to deliver on healthy diets,” Said Hamisi Williams, FAO Assistant Representative in charge of programmes, adding that, “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.”
The 2020 – 2022 Training Package on NSASF was developed through multi - partner collaboration between FAO, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Health, and the Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute and partners under the Food and Nutrition Linkages Technical Working Group (FNLTWG).
The Development Process of the Package
The package development process took a period of two years from 2020 to 2022 following thefollowing steps; development of the technical and facilitation content and collation of the 28 case studies (From Food and Nutrition Linkages Technical Working Group partners); Online technical review by partners and incorporation of the inputs; development of the draft powerpoint presentations; pretesting of the training package in a workshop setting and review based on pretesting results; final technical review workshop; validation; editorial and design work; accreditation of the NSAFS-TP through Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute (KNDI); finalization and publication and finally the national launch.
The launch congregated various stakeholders and partners who have supported financially and technically in the development and validation of the package. During the session, both documents were presented, launched, and distributed.
For Further Information, please contact:
Pauline Akolo
Communications Specialist
Email: [email protected]
Irene Kimani
Lead-Nutritionist-FAO Kenya
Email: [email protected]