Ngororero district celebrates World Food Day through nutrition classes

Residents being taught how to prepare nutritious food

Residents of Ngororero district were taught how to prepare nutritious meals by officials from Rwandan Agricultural Board, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture.

The training coincided with the celebrations of the world Food Day which was marked on Friday the October 18, 2013.

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world in October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.

The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme. The World Food Day theme for 2013 was “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition”

Ngororero district is among the most affected by malnutrition in the country so, the lessons were timely in order to raise awareness and teach the residents how to prepare a balanced diet.

The residents were taught how to prepare oil free vegetables, and were told of foods with more nutrients. The list includes cabbages, carrots, green beans and fruits among others.

“Teaching residents will help the efforts to fight malnutrition. It’s not that people can’t afford balanced meals, it’s the ignorance about what’s good for the body that results to malnutrition many times,” said Clotilde Nyiraneza, The Mayor of Ngororero District.

Children and other vulnerable group of people were fed with milk and food

Children, nurses, expectant mothers and the elderly were fed with milk and nutritious food at the function.

Rwandan districts are working on reducing malnutrition among children in a national campaign that will last 1000 days. The district has about 386 children mildly affected by malnutrition and 121 children gravely affected by malnutrition and kwashiorkor.

Ngororero district celebrates World Food Day through nutrition classes