@fao rne Pictures from the visit

Beni Sueif, 20 October 2016: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrated the World Food Day 2016 under the theme “Climate is Changing Food and Agriculture must too.” The highlight of this year’s celebrations was on the critical relationship between climate change and our planet Earth, and food security and the future of sustainable development.

In this respect, the interventions by the Project on “Improving Household Food and Nutrition Security in Egypt by Targeting Women and Youth,” were covered by the World Food Day celebration. The Project is implemented in Assuit, Aswan, Beni Sueif, Fayoum, and Souhag, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

The celebration took place under the auspices of H.E. Eng. Sherif Habib, the Governor of Beni Sueif with the presence of Dr. Hussein Gadain, FAO Representative in Egypt, and the participation of FAO staff members, representatives of civil society organizations, Project stakeholders and media. The Celebration included field visits to the Junior Farmer Field School, the Nutrition Kitchen and the Community Model Garden.

Commenting on the field visits, H.E. Eng. Sherif Habib said: “the Project’s activities are considered pilot activities in the governorate, that is why we are interested in continuing the partnership with FAO to expand them so as to attain substantial economic benefits especially that the pilots proved a 50% increase in the yield of crops due to adopting good agricultural practices that are taught in the farmer field schools. Moreover, the Community Model Gardens can be implemented so as to cover all rooftops in the governorate and thus have clean and aesthetic places to look at instead of having rooftops used as haphazard storage places.

Mr. Hussein Gadain said: ”Egypt is one of the countries that has come a long way in attaining SDGs such as decreasing the percentage of people suffering from malnutrition into half. However,  we still need to exert more efforts in overcoming the current and future challenges, of which climate change and water scarcity come upfront, especially that these lead to a decrease in food crops and water and accordingly a decrease in agricultural produce. This is what FAO, in cooperation with governmental institutions is trying hard to avoid from happening through the implementation of several programs and projects that are related to adaptation and mitigation approaches towards these challenges.”

From a nutritional angle, Mrs. Maggie Habib, FAO’s Ambassador for the International Year of Pulses said: ”Every Egyptian women is responsible for preparing a nutritional profile for her family, because women now a days get a wealth of information about nutrition from TV, radio, and specialized project such as the one being implemented by FAO here in Beni Sueif. Moreover, preparing nutritious meals is possible at low cost as well. We only have to apply the knowledge we acquire.”

It is worth noting that the Project “Improving Household Food and Nutrition Security in Egypt by Targeting Women and Youth,” aims at assisting the Government of Egypt to create a food-secure environment in which women and youth have access to sufficient and diversified food of both animal and vegetable sources and have the necessary knowledge and skills in the use of food to consume nutritionally adequate diets. The celebrations included field visits to some of the Project’s interventions such as thhe Junior Farmer Field and Life Skills as well as to the Community Nutrition Kitchen.

Nutrition Kitchen:

The Project formed one pilot Community Nutrition Kitchen in Beni Sueif – and is forming 14 others in the rest of the governorates (3 community kitchens in each of the 5 governorates) -  through which women are trained on food preparation, storage and preservation. Women are taught how to improve their daily diet with simple nutritional twists.

Junior Farmer Field Schools:

The Project has established 15 Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) in 5 governorates. Usually farming in the five previously mentioned governorates comprised of cereals and sugar cane. However, the Project introduced the planting of pulses, fruits and vegetables so as to encourage the consumption of nutrient dense crops and to diversify the daily diet.