FG-FAO-Synergoz jointly reinforces extension service capacity on Nutrition sensitive agriculture
Lokoja – Nigeria- As part of efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the Food Security and Nutrition Strategy of the Agriculture Promotion Policy of Nigeria in all 36-States of the country, agriculture extension workers need capacity to ease the process.
The government of Nigeria, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with Synergoz, jointly brought together stakeholders in the sector to strengthen their technological capacities and understanding on how various agriculture livelihood pathways contribute to improving nutrition outcomes.
The training held in Lokoja Kogi state from 3rd – 5th December 2018 seeks to harness the potential of agriculture to meet the nutritional needs of Nigeria and promote nutrition sensitive agriculture and food systems in the country.
Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, the FAO Representative to Nigeria Suffyan Koroma highlighted the need for sustainable food systems in Nigeria to deliver access to adequate nutrition for all, without negative trade-offs on the environment and other health aspects.
Stating “Nutritious diets are not only determined by people’s knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and preferences, but also by the foods that are available, affordable, convenient and desirable to them within their food environments. Nutrition Sensitive agriculture is an integrated approach that adopts sustainable mechanisms to improve the food and nutrition security of individuals, households, communities and the nation at large”.
While declaring the workshop open, the state Commissioner of Agriculture Honorable Oloruntoba Kehinde said the political commitment of the Government of Nigeria in improving Key Performance Indicators on eliminating and preventing hunger and malnutrition in the country, is not lacking. However, some of the challenges, like scaling up data management practices in different extension domains, needs to be surmounted.
The workshop hinged on the objective to foster better understanding of the national dimensions and specificities concerning food systems and agriculture for improving nutrition in Nigeria. It also sought to increase the understanding and linkages on how agriculture and food systems contribute to optimal nutrition outcomes and promote mutual accountability for ensuring agriculture extension.
40 agriculture extension officers from selected pilot states of Nigeria (Kogi, Benue and Kaduna), some NGOs and research institutions working in agriculture extension in these States, participated in the workshop.
Practical sessions that aimed to acquaint participants with basic nutrition knowledge and strategies in integrating nutrition into agricultural extension were held, with group discussions and case study sessions to assess the challenges of extension services and identify potential entry points through which nutrition can be improved. More importantly, participants were sensitized on the causes of malnutrition with strong linkages to food systems drivers and associated impacts on the food environment and food supply chain.
Key outcomes of the workshop included improved technical capacity of the participants on how various agriculture livelihood pathways, livestock, aquaculture, cropping systems and natural resource management contribute to enhancing nutrition outcomes with particular focus on empowering women with time and labor saving technologies as well as access to productive assets. Participants are well equipped to step down lessons learnt in their respective institutions and educate agri-entrepreneurs on proven practices that can improve nutrition outcomes status and livelihoods in Nigeria.
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