At the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Food and Nutrition Division, has joined forces with KORE  from the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, to document and share knowledge on country experiences in nutrition and resilience. 

Food and Nutrition education combined with livelihood support is practiced in several documented experiences (e.g. Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Burkina Faso). However, conducting effective food and nutrition education in resilience contexts presents particular challenges. Food and nutrition education does not mean simply providing nutrition information. Instead, food and nutrition education aims to build a lifelong capacity in understanding and practicing good diet and other food practices. The criterion of success is a sustained improvement in dietary practice, in communities as well as in individuals. Other criteria are that the changes are well understood and cost-effective and have a “breeder effect”, that is, the potential to pass on their learning to others.   

To be effective, food and nutrition education programmes ideally need to be designed based on the findings from an up-to-date participatory situation analysis/needs assessment that helps to understand the socio-cultural context including gender roles, and to identify needs and find solutions. Food and nutrition education interventions should use active and culturally-appropriate learning approaches, including hands-on practice, with a focus on skill building and active sharing of good practices, dialogue, experiences and problem solving. During the design phase, a Monitoring and Evaluation system that is appropriate to the scale, purpose, resources and duration of the programme should also be initiated, to collect evidence that will help strengthen impact, and answer process questions to enhance programme management, as well as provide evidence for the potential scale-up of successful projects.  

2. Discuss appropriate steps to combine food and nutrition education with livelihood support in short-term emergency programmes

***

 Check it out!!

• Resources on Nutrition and Resilience
• Navigate the latest infographic on 'Food and Nutrition Education in Emergency and Resilience’, with practical examples and success stories. Available in English and French. Resources on Nutrition and Resilience

 Your feedback is important to us!