Four in every ten children in the Tooro region are stunted and this is partly contributed by limited knowledge and practice of basic nutrition including dietary diversification, inadequate care for mothers and their children. Food System Lab Fort Portal supports nutrition clubs in five primary schools in the region.
Primary schools through their nutrition clubs have been used to contribute to a sustainable food system especially through addressing knowledge and practice to challenges in nutrition and ensuring safe production and consumption of food. Schools are the natural development zone for nutrition education. They are one of the main social contexts in which lifestyles are developed. Children of school-going age develop behaviour through interaction with other pupils, teachers, parents, siblings and peer groups. They are influenced by their homes, their communities, the mass media and the school. Thus, the school is part of a network of influences which shape eating patterns and attitudes.
HealthyFoodAfrica’s Food System Lab Fort Portal operated by KRC-Uganda supports nutrition clubs in five primary schools within Fort Portal Tourism City and Kabarole district. These include Karambi, Kasisi, Kahunga-bunyonyi, Njara and Kinyamasika primary schools. These schools have been equipped with important information on nutrition using the nutrition clubs as the vessels. KRC- Uganda has trained the headteachers, patrons and cooks of these schools on nutrition, food safety handling and safe farming practices focusing on use of clean planting material and bio-rations for managing pests and diseases.
Spread the positive effect
Karambi P/S nutrition club has held the flag high in disseminating nutrition and food safety messages and practices to the rest of the pupils and communities. The school has a dedicated nutrition club patron, headteacher and teachers who have integrated basic nutrition and food safety information in their science and agriculture classes.
The nutrition club has reached most children through internally organized debates, drama skits and poems on nutrition during assemblies on a regular basis. The school has provided opportunities to practice healthy eating and food safety in their school feeding programme, and through the sale of food on their premises.
There has been “spread the effect” by involving families in their children’s nutrition education. Silver, one of the male pupils in primary five described how he is contributing to decision in the composition of meals to be consumed in their household utilizing the nutrition knowledge from Karambi primary school.
The school nutrition clubs have established school gardens although they have been advised to integrate other crops as well as pest repellant crops and to strengthen agroecological principles and practices in the school farms.
Author: Eric Oteba