WFP Promoting Production and Consumption of Nutritious Foods in Zambia

The project will be implemented by WFP with the overall goal "to improve Food and Nutrition Security of Women and Children in Central, Southern and Eastern Provinces of Zambia through fostering production, marketing and consumption of diversified nutritious foods". Specific objective are as follows; Objective 1: Bridge knowledge gaps on nutrition and infant feeding practices amongst targeted communities and schools. Expected Result: Communities and school learners in targeted areas have improved diet diversity and Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices. Objective 2: Promote access and consumption of nutritious foods at household level through production and improved markets. Expected Result: Smallholder farmers in target areas have increased production, access and consumption of nutritious foods Objective 3: Generate lessons and best practices through implementation with partners that will operationalize nutrition-sensitive policies and programmes. Expected Result: Lessons and best practices generated to influence policy and nutrition-sensitive programming. The programme’s main activities encompass: a) Integrated Nutrition Support through nutrition education to teachers, students, agricultural extension workers and communities, through social behaviour change communication and through promoting infant and young child feeding practices; b) Support access to predictable markets and promote postharvest management to increase farmers income and household food security and minimise postharvest losses and c) Carrying out of various studies, such as market assessment, consumption patterns survey etc to improve the accurateness of the programme’s implementation and approaches. WFP will support improved agricultural production and marketing of nutritious food and simultaneously deliver information and education to increase nutrition knowledge and practice among targeted communities and groups. Social behaviour change communication and women’s empowerment are critical components of the programme. Emphasis will be on reaching pregnant and lactating women, women with children 6 to 23 months of age, adolescent girls, primary school students as well as smallholder farmers who will be targeted to ensure sustainable and guaranteed supply of nutritious value chains, thereby generating increased incomes for the farmers and improved nutrition for their families. The education sector has been identified as a critical partner in nutrition education, WASH and agriculture. Education is also a strategic vehicle for reaching adolescent girls with knowledge and skills, considering also the high levels of teenage mothers and its correlation with high malnutrition levels among young children.