The six-month long “Linking Schools to Agrobiodiversity for Improved diets, Nutrition, and Livelihoods” of NESFAS was launched at Ladmawphlang Community Hall yesterday.
The event, which was conducted at the solar-powered community hall of Ladmawphlang, saw the participation of 31 school teachers and mid day meal cooks from each of the five schools that have been selected as part of the pilot initiative of the project.
The objective of the project is to increase the access of school children to healthy, nutritious, and diverse balanced diets through school meals. It aims at procuring at least one-third of the ingredients for the school meals either locally or from accessing the school gardens. The project also seeks to increase income opportunities for local farmers by promoting locally sourced ingredients in mid day meals.
NESFAS senior associate (Livelihood), Janak Singh lamented the poor performance of Meghalaya in parameters related to nutritional intake. He highlighted the problem of malnutrition that plagued the state in spite of the abundance of agrobiodiversity and food diversity. “To make this pilot project a success, we need to work on the various challenges that we face together. We need the cooks to be fully involved and access how we can make use of the rich local agrobiodiversity we have in our mid day meals”, he said.
NESFAS community consultant, Shaiphar Dohling shared a brief presentation on the proposed work which included key works such as community mobilisation and mapping of local biodiversity, accessing challenges of the current MDM programs, and setting up the monitoring framework by taking inputs from stakeholders like doctors, nutritionists, and other professionals.
“We must work together and make this project a success. This is just a start in five selected schools in Liatkroh block with the hope to scale up after its success,” he said.
An interactive session was followed where the cooks and teachers discussed the challenges faced while implementing mid day meals and why there was such low consumption of diverse food groups in schools.
Another discussion was on the challenges faced by the communities in procuring locally grown food.
NESFAS lead association (nutrition), Rimchi Marak shared insights on how children suffering from anaemia and malnutrition can be treated through the introduction of certain food supplements in their mid day meals.
A school teacher of Laitsohpliah, Nestar Kharmawphlang why the health status or report of students were not shared when health checkups have been conducted regularly by the Health Department
The event concluded with the teachers and cooks pledging to carry forward all the information and knowledge they had learned in the event and start implementing it in their own schools. The need for professionals such as doctors and nutritionists to set up monitoring frameworks was discussed and agreed upon. The teachers also agreed to have a seasonal calendar at their own school as well as to review the food groups available in each of their school gardens.
With the support of NESFAS, the five schools will also develop menu plans for mid day meals. The five schools involved enthusiastically resolved to carry forward what the project aims so that they can become “beacons of hope” for the other schools that may come along if the project turns out to be a success.
