Diet schooling performs a key position in selling wholesome and sustainable diets for all. In lots of components of the world, skilled coaching in vitamin schooling stays scarce. The necessity for competent professionals expert to conduct vitamin schooling interventions is very nice in international locations the place undernutrition coexists with rising charges of overnutrition and related non-communicable illnesses. Funded by the German Ministry of Meals and Agriculture (BMEL), and in collaboration with quite a few African universities and the Dutch College of Wageningen, FAO launched the vitamin schooling course ENACT – Schooling for efficient Diet in Motion – in 2012. The course goals to advertise long-term enhancements in diets, giving particular consideration to social and environmental contexts, in all related sectors and in the entire meals cycle, together with manufacturing, processing, advertising and marketing, and consumption.
FAO’s wants evaluation carried out in 2010 in seven African international locations revealed an absence of appropriate approaches and related trainings to advertise vitamin conduct change.
Two years later FAO launched the programme Schooling for efficient Diet in Motion (ENACT), a course which trains college college students, agriculturists, nurses, well being service managers, neighborhood employees and NGO workers to conduct vitamin schooling interventions for conduct change, starting from planning to analysis. Whereas growing vital competencies for his or her skilled lives, course contributors additionally learn to enhance their very own diets and how you can handle nutrition-related threats of their communities.
“We at the moment are conscious that vitamin schooling is so vital in any respect ranges”, an ENACT scholar from Cameroon remarks.
ENACT was piloted efficiently between 2012 and 2014 in Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Shortly after, the course was translated into French and piloted with universities in Francophone African coutries, specifically Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon and Niger.
Enhancing college students’ capacities
The four-month course has been built-in into numerous college programmes and primarily makes use of the tutorial instructing technique, which emphasizes observe and expertise, specializing in college students’ lively participation by making them the primary actors of their very own studying course of.
“The lecture technique skilled us to recollect what the lecturer stated however the tutorial technique made us assume”, an ENACT scholar from Ghana explains. The course particularly targets college students who plan to advertise vitamin conduct change of their future skilled practices, e.g. in vitamin, drugs, agriculture and social science.
Total suggestions was very optimistic, with 86 % of collaborating tutors and 82 % of collaborating college students score the sensible actions utilizing pedagogical approaches as “very helpful”. An exterior analysis confirmed that the programme succeeded in rising skilled capability by making ready college students to pursue careers in nationwide governments and intergovernmental organizations, as neighborhood or well being employees, agriculture extension brokers, and so forth.
“I now really feel very succesful to assist individuals enhance their diets and their meals conduct”, an ENACT scholar from Cameroon confirms. Course contributors are additionally ready to successfully combine vitamin schooling into nationwide insurance policies, methods and nutrition-sensitive interventions.
Scaling up vitamin schooling
After profitable piloting, accomplice universities carried out nationwide multi-sectoral workshops at numerous ranges and with related stakeholders, e.g. NGOs, governments, coaching establishments and UN companies, with the goal to develop a joint technique for mainstreaming vitamin schooling into insurance policies and programmes, and with a purpose to combine coaching into college curricula.
The workshops gave stakeholders a chance to strengthen their involvement and collaboration with vitamin schooling coaching, in addition to defining associated roles and duties. Whereas some added the course to current programmes, others created knowledgeable Grasp’s diploma in vitamin schooling. The course was additionally efficiently built-in in English-speaking piloting international locations, and is predicted to begin within the educational yr 2016/2017. All French-speaking international locations goal to launch ENACT throughout the back-to-school interval in 2017/2018.
Subsequent steps
FAO is presently selling ENACT by way of orientation classes in different African universities, and thru coach’s trainings throughout regional conferences. FAO can be exploring how you can adapt programs to Asian and Latin American international locations in line with their wants and pursuits. An internet model of the course has been ready and piloted and can be accessible shortly. All programme variations can be found in English and French, and might be built-in within the curricula of universities.
