By TCD TEAM.
On Friday, May 19, 2023 – Kitui County Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr. Stephen Mbaya Kimwele disclosed that the county government is ready to invest widely in climate smart agriculture to address malnutrition in the county.
Speaking when he addressed participants of a 5 day training on Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) at the Kitui Agricultural Centre (ATC) on Friday, the agriculture executive said the County Government will support climate friendly agricultural practices for the eradication of prevalent hunger and drought in the county.
Dr. Kimwele said agriculture was a priority area in Dr. Julius Malombe’s 16 – Sector manifesto to Kitui County, adding that absolute commitment from his ministry was required for realisation of the promise and improvement of the livelihoods of all county residents.
The Advancing Nutrition Project is implemented in three counties (Kitui, Kisumu and Kakamega) and it aims at strengthening the counties capacity to plan, finance, manage and implement Multi Sectoral Nutrition (MSN) interventions aimed at overcoming malnutrition.
The Project practices the Multi-Sectoral nutrition approach where the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock, Water and irrigation, Health, Education, Gender, Social Protection and Finance are involved alongside all civil society organizations in making necessary interventions to address malnutrition.
Kituiās current stunting rate is *25.1%*, wasting at *4.9%* and underweight at *13.9%* among children under 5 years.
With one of the major causes of malnutrition being inadequate knowledge on nutritional matters, the Project facilitated the Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) training to 40 trainees drawn across Kitui County to deepen the knowledge of malnutrition and its consequences.
The trainees were equipped with knowledge on kitchen gardening, preservation and storage of locally, available dark green leafy vegetables, food fortification, nutrition education, and social behaviour change and communication, among others.
The training was attended by Dr. Tchome, Nutrition Sensitive advisor at USAID Advancing Nutrition Project, Timothy Muli, the Project Coordinator Kitui County, Baraka Some, Carol Muteti, Rosina Muturi, Francis Kitoo Deputy Director Agriculture and Charles Kyutu among others.
CGoK-Comm. Dept.