Reducing malnutrition through nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Chronic malnutrition or stunting remains a national challenge for Rwanda. In 2015, about 38% of children under the age of five were chronically undernourished (Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, 2015).
Fighting malnutrition however, requires multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder interventions and coordination. This, therefore, calls for putting in place capacity development measures towards integrated nutrition-sensitive programming, coordination, monitoring and evaluation.
What is nutrition-sensitive agriculture?
According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), nutrition-sensitive agriculture is an approach that seeks to ensure the production of a variety of affordable, nutritious, culturally appropriate and safe foods in adequate quantity and quality to meet the dietary requirements of populations in a sustainable manner.
With funding from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), FAO is collaborating with the government of Rwanda to implement a joint nutrition project titled “Effectively fighting chronic malnutrition in Rwanda”, aimed to strengthen institutional capacities to address malnutrition.
Under the project, FAO has trained some 40 national level specialists and officers on how to maximize agriculture sector and food systems contribution to address nutrition related challenges in Rwanda.
They came from Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), the Ministry of local government (MINALOC), Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB), Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), and National Early Childhood Development Programme (NECDP).
Mukayiranga Agnes Extension specialist at RAB emphasized that it is critical for farmers to grow nutritious foods, and with the help of nutritionists at the village level, prepare a balanced diet.
Ufitinema Adeline Food and Nutrition Specialist at NECDP said: “Sometimes farmers grow crops with selling in mind. They have to eat what they grow. More efforts and knowledge is needed to sensitize them to maximize the food they grow to improve nutrition at household level.”
FAO Representative in Rwanda, Gualbert Gbehounou while officiating at the training said that there is a great need to link and make nutrition and agriculture work together because the two have the potential to improve the livelihood and well-being of farmers especially in rural areas.
“Agriculture is the starting point and an important sector for good nutrition. It can play a significant role in addressing the causes of malnutrition through value chain approaches while also tackling underlying issues such as social and economic underdevelopment and inequality,” said Gualbert.
The government of Rwanda has come up with initiatives to improve household nutrition including, the kitchen garden programme through which every household grows vegetables, fruits and other healthy foods to help them have access to nutritious foods, thus improving the household food security, and the economic status of the family.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Jean Claude Musabyimana said that agriculture and food systems is a priority for the country.
“Stunting has to be fought with the food we grow. Programmes such as school deeding, installation of kitchen gardens and diversification of crops, have been employed to address the issue of malnutrition,” Musabyimana reiterated.
Multi-sectoral approach
To show its commitment to stunting reduction, the government has embarked on a multi-sectoral approach in addressing all issues related to food and nutrition and political commitment was concretized through the development of multi-sectoral frameworks for example, the National Food and Nutrition Strategic Policy and Strategy (2013-2018) which focused on improving household food security.
The country has also established the National Early Child Development Programme (NECDP) to coordinate and implement community-based nutrition interventions addressing stunting.
More support
FAO will also support national level institutions on development, reporting and monitoring of nutrition-sensitive agriculture indicators across key frameworks such Strategic Plan agricultural transformation (PSTA 4), SDG2 and CAADP.
FAO is supporting the government of Rwanda to develop Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) which are dietary recommendations expressed in terms of food and diet instead of nutrients, to be understood and used by the populations.
The premise of these FBDGs are to establish a basis for public food and nutrition, health and agricultural policies and nutrition education programmes to foster healthy eating habits and lifestyle
On the continent, FAO promotes nutrition-sensitive agriculture through a variety of partnerships and capacity development initiatives. For example, since 2011, FAO has partnered with the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to help countries mainstream nutrition in their national agriculture investment plans.
Contact:
Teopista Mutesi | Communications Specialist | FAO-Rwanda | Email: [email protected]