Good nutrition is a critical part of health and development (WHO, 2012). But in the case of developing countries like Nepal, nutrition status of people seems to be very poor, which leads to malnutrition. Women and children are the most vulnerable group of malnutrition especially in the rural areas. Nepal Demographic and Health survey (NDHS) 2011 shows that 41% of children under 5 have suffered from chronic malnutrition. It is obvious that the nutrition of mother (women) directly affects the nutrition status of child.
Addressing the nutrition problem in rural women, Integrating Gender and Nutrition within Agricultural Extension Services (INGENAES) organized a one daylong workshop on “Communication Strategy and Tactics to Reach Rural Women with Nutrition Messages” on 21st July 2016 at Hotel Shangri-La Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
It was conducted with around 20 participants from the different organizations who are working in nutrition, agriculture, children and women sector. Five YPARDians: Abhishek, Gaurab, Nikita, Parbati and I attended the workshop.
Dr. Lulu Rodriguez, facilitated the sessions with some basic communication principles, and also she shared her experiences about communication strategies in reaching women of rural areas across the globe. During the group discussion session, participants put forward their views on communication strategies, their experiences, constrains they have encountered and possible ways to alleviate constrains.
YPARD Nepal team focused on “Focus Group Discussion” that was held on Jumla district (one of the districts of Nepal) with an objective of spreading knowledge about nutrition, processing technique and preservation of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) crops. We also shared our awareness material about the values of pulses highlighting the “International Year of pulses.”
It was a great platform to share our views and ideas with those amazing peoples from diverse field. We found that main constrain to reach rural women with nutrition messages was their perception of nutrition, their busy schedule and lack of decision making power within themselves. We learned strategies and tactics to use the suitable means of communication which can be helpful in changing their attitude towards healthy consumption and importance of nutrition.
Advocacy is the only way to uplift women’s nutrition status. Linking the rural farmers with governmental agencies is necessary to make them more convinced. I believe, lessons learned from this workshop will help us and our organization to deliver our message to public in effective way. YPARD Nepal would like to thanks INGENAES for the great opportunity.