From 2 to 5 May 2016, FAO Headquarters hosted a debriefing workshop on the ENAF course, an undergraduate professional course in nutrition education. This 11-units module was developed by the project team and implemented by the Nutrition and Food Systems division in FAO. It aims at building capacities for “effective nutrition in action in French-speaking African countries” and thus, developing a network of trained teachers using ENAF’s learning materials.

During four days, ten teachers from five universities in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon and Niger presented and discussed their feedbacks, their strategies to integrate the course into their universities’ curricula, as well as the ways and means to adapt the material for professional adult training. This workshop also sat up the foundation of five national advocacy strategies in nutrition education. It helped participants get familiar with participatory approaches to plan nutrition education initiatives and to raise multi-sectorial awareness in this area.

Depending on the universities’ schedules and organizational structures, the course is expected to start at the 2016-2017 back-to-school period or the semester after. Some have already created a specialized curriculum in nutrition education (professional Master), others will integrate the course in existing programmes. Internal workshops will address the specific challenges regarding integration in the LMD (license, Master, Doctorate) system. The sustainability of the project depends on those integration strategies.

Jointly supported by German cooperation (BMEL) and FAO’s Regional Office for Africa, the ENAF project made possible for about 100 students, from various backgrounds, to receive an undergraduate training in nutrition education. Thus, ENAF addresses proven needs of the Region for capacity development in nutrition and nutrition education.

With the publication of the face-to-face course, FAO will contribute to raise awareness and build capacities in nutrition education in French-speaking universities.