31,800 children were reached in 36 primary schools from Tete

Elementary school students in Tete Province benefit from nutrition lessons in an approach adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to reduce chronic malnutrition in the province of Tete with a current rate of 44% in children 0-5 years), according to the Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security (SETSAN).

This approach is part of the FAO programme "Accelerating Progress towards the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals-MDG1c", funded by the European Union, aiming at promoting nutrition education in children and making them agents of change on hygiene and nutrition practices in their schools, families and communities.

The Permanent Secretary of Tete province, Lina Portugal, highlighted that "reducing chronic malnutrition is not the responsibility of a single sector, but of everyone, therefore it is important to ensure that children under 2 years and our adolescents have access to various nutritious foods. Portugal added that as well as investing in maternal and childcare services, improving access to safe drinking water and sanitation, developing social transfer programs for the most vulnerable, and expanding nutritional education in communities, "she said.

According to the FAO coordinator in Tete, Tendai Gonesso, 31,800 children were reached in 36 primary schools from districts of Angónia, Tsangano and Macanga, where 178 teachers and 36 councilors were trained in the same schools in this province.
"Only with interventions that promote access to diversified food, effective social and behavioral changes and good food, hygiene and health practices we can truly achieve a world without hunger and all forms of malnutrition."

Representatives of the Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security (SETSAN), representatives of the Ministry of Education and Human Development, permanent secretaries of the reached districts, representatives of civil society, cooperation partners, district technicians attended to the two-day seminar (06-07 May), including education, health and agriculture technicians, primary school principals, community leaders and representatives of FAO and WFP.

Lino Chazuka, community leader of Tsangano district, noticed changes in his community and he is already seeing home gardens in the houses. "After this meeting and after what I heard at this seminar, I am motivated to invite the village leaders I coordinate (about 38 villages) to listen to the lessons children are learning in school about nutrition."
The leader from Tsangano states that he saw in the families that now there is fair sharing of food and they eat the four food groups.

"Now the food is served on different plates and we change the way we wash our hands. We don't wash in the same recipient anymore to avoid contamination but with running water. "

Zeca Chintawala, community leader of Macanga district thanks FAO for the development brought in the district and for choosing to work with children who are the future of the community.

The leader says that in his community, it was normal not to use latrines. The children brought clear examples of the importance of using the latrine. "Some adults insisted on saying that they have been doing this for a long time but even so the children insisted on giving examples of some diseases like diarrhea that can be transmitted through the flies. Now our latrines have a tip-tap system for washing hands with soap or gray. We also looked at the diversified diet and fair sharing of food, each one already eating on his plate, which was not common. "

The President of the Council of the Massiria Primary School, located in the district of Angónia, Maurício Bulei, also shares that the programme brought many changes in his community.

"Children have brought the rainbow garden (varied crops that are reflected in varied food), a new approach they are learning at school. The community is satisfied with the new vegetables recipes. The way they are prepared is no longer the same, he says.
The children used to learn to eat fast, because they used the same dish but now everyone eats at will on the own plate ", he concludes.

The seminar aimed to promote appropriate measures to ensure the sustainability of nutrition education activities in schools, communities and districts after the end of the MDG1c programme through the Let's Eat Nutritious Food (VCAN) and Child Participation, Learning, and Action for Nutrition (PCAAN).